<\/p>\n
ExBulletin<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n Dame Judi said: \u201cIt is vitally important that Reading Gaol, a place of such culture, be used in a way that pays homage to its artistic history, namely, to become a cultural and artistic center. It would be a great gift not only for Read as a growing city and population center in the South, but also in the UK and around the world. \u201c<\/p>\n Sir Kenneth, who grew up in Reading, said: \u201cIn Oscar Wilde\u2019s iconic poem he says,\u201c Every man kills what he loves. \u201dDespite the undoubted challenges, don\u2019t let this wounded beast a building be killed when it can. be healed. \u201c<\/p>\n The prison, built in 1844, was closed in 2014 and its future has been uncertain since.<\/p>\n Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, stressed the need to get \u201cvalue for money for the taxpayer\u201d, but a sale to a real estate developer who wanted to turn the building into apartments failed this summer and the council local is in talks with the MoJ to preserve it for the public.<\/p>\n Reading West MP and Business Secretary Alok Sharma is also in discussion with Buckland….<\/p>\n Toby Davies, Rabble\u2019s artistic director, said: \u201cWe have an extraordinary opportunity of poetic justice for Wilde by putting his pieces in the prison where this terrible thing happened to him. It would also give us a chance to show that there is has more to Reading than a shopping center and a train station. \u201c<\/p>\n Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer of Reading said there was a \u201chuge opportunity to create a cultural gem\u201d in the disused building, while Mr Fry said plans for a center artistic would be a \u201cperfect\u201d legacy for Wilde.<\/p>\n Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n For more background see the NewsBlogs<\/a>\u00a0and BBC News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hollywood actors Sir Kenneth Branagh and Dame Judi Dench are among those campaigning to transform Reading\u2019s former jail – which housed Oscar Wilde between 1895 and 1897, but has been derelict since 2013, before it was put up for sale … Continue reading