Former Mill Road Library to become arts venue

The old Mill Road Library in Cambridge is set to be transformed into a creative arts space.

Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed to sell the former Mill Road Library in Cambridge, to a "creatively-minded" bidder who has offered "significantly more" than the £700,000 guide price.

This is the second time the authority has attempted to sell the building, having previously picked a preferred bidder back in 2023, before the buyer later pulled out.

A report presented to the county council on Tuesday 15 October 2024 said the new buyer proposed to use the building for "community purposes", such as creating a studio space for the creative arts, dance, music, art and writing.

The report said the person behind the bid already ran successful "community focused enterprises" in London.

Concerns were shared about whether the building would be brought back into community use effectively, after sitting empty for a number of years, however, councillors said they believed the plans put forward by the chosen buyer would make the building the "heart of the community again".

When a decision was put to a vote unanimous support was given to accepting the bid from the recommended bidder, and the process of completing the sale will now start to take place.