A MUSIC venue, indoor skatepark and TV studio topped the ambitious list as 1,000 people had their say on how they want to see Southend’s Kursaal brought back into use. 

Concrete Culture, the group behind the project, say they were blown away by the huge response to their public consultation.

Around 1,100 residents said what they think the town is missing and what they want to see in the empty building.

The 120-year-old seafront landmark – leased by company AEW UK – is shut following the closure of a number of businesses, including the Rendezvous Casino.

But even famous faces, including Lee Mead and Dame Helen Mirren, have backed the group’s efforts to bring back the landmark.

Ideas put forward have also included an ice rink, a local radio station, an eco-centre cafe and even a “Southend Pier history extravaganza” – with one part including a virtual reality ride and another featuring the pier museum’s historic collection.

But 36 per cent of responses were in favour of using the building as a music venue – the most popular idea of all.

Mike Bromfield, from Concrete Culture, said: “Of course we do have music venues in Southend, but they range from being really small to the size of the Cliffs Pavilion. I think something in the middle is missing.

“Now I’ve said time and time again how huge this place is, it’s about three acres, so why should it stop there?

“Who says it couldn’t be used for different things – if you bring together lots of creative ideas under one roof we’ve then got a recipe for something really wonderful.

“We were amazed at the overwhelming responses we’ve had so far, people really have taken their time to pour their hearts into these ideas. It just show this is such a big deal to a lot of people.

“We had some wildcards in there too. Someone even suggested an indoor water park.”

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The consultation, run between late December and early February, saw just over one in five people say they wanted a food market or restaurant.

But proving the second most popular response, around 22 per cent thought it should be a ‘multi-purpose space’. The next step will be launching phase two of the consultation – how the ideas will look.

Mr Bromfield added: “We’ll be giving examples on how it could work, and asking people what they’d prefer.”