AN ESCAPE room, a sports arena, a dinosaur museum…

These are just some of the ideas for the future of Reading prison thought up by secondary school students from Berkshire.

The site has been unused since 2013 with its future still up in the air.

Reading Council bid to revamp the site into an arts centre but this was turned down by the Ministry of Justice in May and the gaol is still up for grabs.

READ MORE: Reading Prison back on sale after council bid

But a competition set up by the University College of Estate Management aims to change that with students submitting some original proposals for the transformation of the site.

The final shortlist of four entries will be revealed next week but some of the submissions which were not selected for the last round have been revealed by the UCEM.

So without further ado, here are some ideas from some of the ‘sharpest youngs minds in the county.’

An LGBTQ+ museum

Under this submission from two students, posters about the site’s history would be plastered across the prison’s walls.

One of the students felt the prison should be a museum which reflects its past, with an emphasis on notorious inmate Oscar Wilde.

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The site would be educational, marking a dark period of history where people were persecuted for being gay, enabling visitors to reflect on how far we have come in our attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community.

The new Banksy artwork would also form part of a tour of the new LGBTQ+ museum.

Proceeds from the site would go towards supporting LGBTQ+ charities.

A Theatre

Used as a theatre, the site would be a space for the public to enjoy while also hosting site tours.

Shows featured at the prison would lean on the prison’s past with artwork incorporated around the site.

An escape room

This proposal would involve a ‘prison break’ type escape room experience fitting in with the new Banksy artwork.

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Visitors would have to wear orange jumpsuits before being placed in an escape room cell in a bid for their freedom.

A sports venue

Five different zones would make up this re-imagined prison site for casual sport-themed challenges.

The first zone would be football inspired, with visitors trying to score as many goals as possible.

Zone 2 would be cricket-themed, as visitors must wear a VR headset and hit the oncoming ball as far as they can.

READ MORE: Banksy artwork appears on side of Reading Prison

Basketball hoop-shooting would be the name of the game in zone 3, whereas zone 4 would be dedicated to archery.

Zone five is set aside for cycling fun, with visitors pushing themselves to cycle on machines.

A dinosaur museum

A description for this idea on UCEM’s website reads: “Instead of prisoners, cells would be filled with dinosaurs.

“The example was given of a pack of velociraptors in one cell demonstrating how small they were.

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“A tyrannosaurus rex would poke its head out of another cell and pterosaurs would reside on the ceiling.

“This would prove to be an educational experience seeing how big the dinosaurs once were and imagining them roaming the world now!”

A paintball area

And last but not least, one student had the idea of converting Reading prison into a paintball arena.

Teams of prisoners and prison guards would go up against each other in the “perfect” setting for a paintball battle.

Which is your favourite idea? Let us know below?