Updated plans for the redevelopment of Beeston town centre include a shisha bar and a virtual reality gaming space, which have been welcomed by residents. A new Broxtowe Borough Council report confirms there are offers in place for the town's former Argos building, to create the bar on the ground floor and from a gaming company for the first floor.
It's part of the £50m revamp of the town centre, and wider plans include an eight-storey student accommodation building, along with the site of The Arc Cinema having venues set to open underneath it, including an Italian restaurant and a bar, kitchen and arcade.
Locals previously said they hoped the plans for the cinema complex would be 'Beeston's answer to the Nottingham Cornerhouse'. And the most recent updates have been backed by locals, too, as they want to see the empty sites in use.
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Cathy Ashbee, 53, who lives in Beeston, said: "I've got two sons so those plans would be right up their street. For young people like them, that would be great. Beeston needs reviving, you've got the cinema but that can be quite expensive and younger people are facing an economic challenge at the moment.
"I'd like to see more things for students in the area as it creates a buzz around the place. It saves people going into the city, too, especially with the amount of incidents you hear about there."
Keith Jarvis, 66, who's retired and lives in Beeston, said: "I just don't want to see empty shops. The plans for the revamp with new businesses is good. I want to see those shops in use and that also creates jobs. I'd love to see Iceland brought back."
Craig Bowmar, 59, who lives in Stapleford and was waiting for his wife to finish working at Wilkos in Beeston so they could go to Skegness for the weekend, added: "Those plans sound good to me, it beats having empty stores there that's for sure. We've already got most things here so that all sounds good."
Carole Lloyd, 74, who is retired and living in Breaston in Derbyshire but was shopping in Beeston, said: "It's a place I come to every now and again, but I like to come here to buy things from Bird's Bakery. I would like to see a nice daytime restaurant there so I could go for a meal with my friends.
"Something in general with nice food would be great. There are already a lot of things life coffee shops and banks around here."
