CITY Councillors have been sharing their ideas for what to do with the vacant Debenhams building in Carlisle.
Ideas varied, from a residential complex to offices, and even an ice rink.
The issue of what to do with the large, empty building came up in a City Council meeting on January 19, during which the Place Panel heard plans on reshaping the city centre’s Greenmarket and Market Square.
Cllr Trevor Allison brought it up as a potential to expand on goals to bring more footfall into the city.
The conversation arose from a report written by Jane Meeks, the director for economic development at the council, in which it says the future of retail is for Carlisle to move away from large shops as a shift to online shopping during and after Covid saw a lot of big names shut their doors for good.
Cllr Allison suggested the site could be used for residential reasons, as promoting the city centre as a place to live is important.
He said: “I spent most of my career at the John Lewis partnership that had similar issues, they came up with the solution to reuse sites for things like living accommodation and office uses.
“I mentioned both for the Civic Centre as well; we need more people living in the city centre.
“As a member of the new authority, I’m hoping we can pursue this in due course.”
The mayor of Carlisle, Mike Mitchelson, said: “Maybe it could be split up into smaller units, I think it could be halved between the ground floor and upper tier, as there are two entrances for it, but it’s not easy to fill.
“We’ve also got to bear in mind in a few years’ time we’re going to house the Citadel complex and thousands of students based in the city centre, which again will create its own vibrancy.
“What units are there will need to cater for students’ needs which will be mixed-use.
“There are great opportunities for Carlisle in the next few years to maximise the input of students and to create a stronger future.”
Supporting a mixed-use approach was the former mayor, Pam Birks, who said: “You could have an ice ring in the basement part, then on the ground floor you could have a restaurant and small theatre, and you could put offices or residential accommodation on the top floor.
“It needs to be something long-term; it’s an ideal outlet for people to stay in Carlisle.
“When we’re looking at the Cumberland Authority, we have to look at attracting people into the city that will go into the other areas of their authority.”
Cllr Anne Glendinning agreed on mixed-use potential and said: “The ground floor could be used for smaller units, and the top tier could be residential.”
Cllr Glendinning said a similar operation to Tribe, formerly in Bitts Park, would work.
“Tribe was good but it wasn’t the right place for it.
“I don’t see why it couldn’t be done in the city centre.
“We’ve also got the university developments which will bring some more vibrancy into the city centre,” she added.
Not forgetting how important the old Debenhams was, Cllr James Bainbridge said: "In October 2000, I came back to live in Cumbria as a result of the Debenhams extension to the Lanes, therefore I've seen at first hand the impact having a large anchor tenant in Carlisle can have.
"But retail has changed massively since then, and whilst it is unlikely a retailer who isn't already in Carlisle would take over the site, I do wonder if a bigger Next with a wider range of items, all under one roof would help take up at least some of the space.
"Ultimately the building is probably too big for just one use, but if the escalators could be reconfigured it might create a site that could be divided into two units."
Ideas aside, the process would be a long one and likely the duty would fall to the new authority to process a purchase order, obtain planning permission, and eventually carry out the procedure of remapping Carlisle’s future, however, as Pam Birks added, there’s no harm in having these conversations now.
READ MORE: Future of Carlisle's retail paved amid reshaping plans
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