A small UK town may be joining some of biggest cities in the world and welcome a new Universal Studios theme park in the near future.
Potential plans to build a new Universal Studios in England have been revealed, with a market town in England set to become the first theme park location owned by the entertainment giant in Europe.
At present, Universal owns five parks across the US and Asia: two in North America, located in Hollywood and Orlando, Florida, one in Beijing, China, one in Osaka, Japan, and one in Sentosa, Singapore. A sixth park, the third in the US, is currently under construction in Texas.
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Bedford may soon become the next destination for theme parks aficionados as it could host the first Universal Studios park in the UK, guaranteed to attract tourists thanks to its spectacular rides inspired by some of the studio's most famous productions.
The top conglomerate is behind beloved classics of the likes of Jurassic Park, E.T., Back To The Future and the Despicable Me series, while its other theme parks also features franchises produced by other studios and appearing under license, such as Harry Potter, Transformers and The Simpsons.
The land Universal bought with the aim of building the theme park is a 480-acre site that used to be a brickworks.
In fact, it used to be the largest brickworks in the world, producing 500 million bricks a year and providing jobs for 2,000 people.
It was in business for over 100 years before it closed in 2008 because it did not achieve emission standards.
It’s near the village of Stewartby, which is home to about 2,800 people.
The brickworks were demolished in 2018 and the plan was to build 1,000 houses and a business park - but that’s about to change now Universal has acquired the site.
At the moment, there aren't plans detailing the rides the park may include as a spokesperson for Universal confirmed the project is still in its early stages.
"We recently acquired land in Bedford and are at the early stages of exploring its feasibility for a potential park and resort at this site," the spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
"It will be many months before we are ready to make a decision to proceed and we look forward to engaging with all relevant stakeholders and the local community."
For his part, the mayor of Bedford Borough Council Tom Wootton also cautiously referred to the project's development stage as 'early days'.
"The suggestion of a major business investment is of course positive, nevertheless these are early days and much detailed work is required before any decisions are made," he told the BBC.
"We very much welcome and are excited by the interest from Universal and the immense potential for it to be transformative for the borough," Wootton continued.
"We're committed to ensure that any plans align with the best interests of our residents."
Topics: Universal Pictures, UK News
Stefania Sarrubba