New owner announces his plans for Reading Gaol including hotel and art gallery

The new owner of Reading Gaol has said he hopes to build a hotel and art gallery on the site.The prison has been standing empty for over a decade but it was finally sold in January this year.

Chinese businessman, Channing Bi, who runs an education organisation said he understands the importance of the buildings to the town.

He paid the Ministry of Justice £7m to purchase the Gaol in January 2024, but says he plans to invest many more millions into transforming the buildings.

The site has been in the centre of town for almost 180 years, housing thousands of prisoners, most famously, Oscar Wilde, who immortalised his imprisonment in the poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

It was closed by the government as part of its jail modernisation programme and put up for sale in 2019.

Since its closure, campaigners from the local Rabble Theatre group have worked tirelessly to make sure the prison is turned into a space that benefits the local community.

The Ministry of Justice has said: “The Ziran Education Foundation will now engage with Reading Borough Council on the use of the site as it will need to approve any development plans.”

The Ziran Education Foundation will take on the historic venue and the new owner looks to financially support turning the site into an museum for other people to enjoy.

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