A new food hall is just months away from replacing the shell of closed down units at the Lockmeadow Centre in Maidstone, including Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

The initiative is the latest in a string of improvements planned by Maidstone Borough Council since it bought the leasehold of the centre from the previous private landlords in November 2019.

But before workmen moved in, we visited the centre with Lockmeadow's site manager Arek Pyc and the council's head of commissioning and business improvement Alexa Kirsting-Woods to take a last look before the transformation.

What we found were three empty shells, one most recently occupied by Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK). with the other two having stood empty for four years.

At present going in the main entrance and turning left there is the space that was occupied by GBK.

The company announced it was shutting its Maidstone and Canterbury restaurants in October, as part of 26 closures across the country, aimed at keeping the company afloat.

This will house four independent catering units, along the back wall, each measuring 9m x 9m. Tenants are being sought to take on the spaces, which will come fully fitted with every service.

The tenants will each have their own storage unit nearby.

To the right, are two spaces, but the dividing wall is to come down to make one large area.

Here there will be four slightly larger units, measuring 10m by 10m, along the far wall.

In addition, the walls to the foyer area from both sides will come down, so that the whole area will become one gigantic walk-in hall with communal seating that can be used by customers from any of the outlets.

Mr Kirsting-Woods said: "We had an initial 35 expressions of interest from businesses wanting to take on a unit.

"Five of those have met our criteria so far and progressed to the point of going through the paperwork to agree terms and sign contracts, with one business, the Kangaroo Court Bakery having already completed and confirmed."

Kangaroo Court Bakery runs a cafe in Rochester and is shortly to open a bakery in Gabriels Hill, Maidstone, which it will use to supply goods to the Lockmeadow outlet.

Its customers will be able to buy coffees, cakes, and light lunches, to eat in or take outside to eat on the new terrace - but more of that later.

Mrs Kirsting-Woods said the other tenants would have a range of offerings from burgers, to Caribbean food, Thai and Euro/Asian. There may even be a cocktail bar.

However, the Gourmet Griddle food van, formerly located at Lockmeadow and previously tipped to be one of the tenants will not be so after all.

The business has found a new pitch at The Walnut Tree pub in Loose.

The food hall will be branded 'Love Food at Lockmeadow' after that name won a public poll, beating the alternative suggestion of 'Lockmeadow Street Food' by just seven votes.

The council is investing a huge amount of money in the project. It spent £19m to acquire the 105-year lease.

Last year it carried out a facelift of the exterior of the building with new paintwork and signage. The majority of the building has not changed since it was built in the 1990s.

Now the council is spending another £900,000 on the upgrade.

As well as the food hall, this will include a major expansion of the outside terrace area to the back of the centre, which again will be available to diners from any of the centre's units.

Mrs Kirsting-Woods explained: "It will be a lovely place to sit, with a view towards the river."

More will also be made of the "Town Square " behind the centre, previously used as a car park.

That will now be used as an event space with plans particularly for a Christmas market.

Not far away is the green space that is destined to become a children's play area.

For this, the council called on some expert advice - the children of Boughton Monchelsea Primary School.

They approved the plans for a woodland-style play area, which will enable the council to keep the existing trees. It will be surrounded by picnic benches.

One sad point is that the view of the river is somewhat hidden currently by the high vegetation along the river-bank.

Mrs Kirsting-Woods said the Lockmeadow Centre land only extended as far as the paved footpath, beyond that it was the responsibility of a different council department.

She said: "We are in discussions to see if anything can be done."

There is no firm date yet for work to start on the play area - the main centrepiece will be a giant squirrel slide, and that is still being manufactured in Croatia. But once work gets under way it should only take about six weeks.

It will be complimented by a short "woodland trail" leading from the town centre to the play area, with brass-rubbing plaques and other activities for the children to do on the journey.

A final idea will be to improve the nearby footbridge over the River Medway with a lighting installation. That is in its early stages, with nothing yet finalised.

Mr Pyc is the site manager for Fidum Property Management, the company that runs the centre on the council's behalf.

He started there as bouncer 12 years ago, two years after he came to England from Poland in 2007. Later he became head of security before being appointed to his present role.

He was enthusiastic about the changes.

Mr Pyc said: "When I started, Lockmeadow was really a nightclub destination. There was Jumpin Jaks, then Liquid and Envy.

"Now we will attract an entirely different clientele - Lockmeadow is now for families and people of all ages.

"During my time here there have been four different private landlords, but none of them seemed to have any ideas for the place.

"Since Maidstone council took over, things have improved greatly. We've already had the facelift, now the food hall is a marvellous concept.

"Previously the owners had always tried to attract big chains and big names to the site. The council is looking to attract small local businesses that will bring greater variety."

He said: "The earlier owners were based in London, they didn't have that local knowledge or interest."

Mr Pyc said: "I think Lockmeadow is certain to become the leisure destination in the town. Already trade is picking up far better for our existing tenants than I thought it would after Covid."

That's good news for Mr Pyc, who confesses he's been there so long: "I look after it as if it's my own place."

The construction of the food hall is being carried out by Form Fit Out, the same company which did the recent facelift.

It is scheduled to take only 12 weeks which has enabled the council to set a target date for opening the Love Food at Lockmeadow for October 14.

Any independent food caterers who are interested in taking a pitch in the food hall should contact Mrs Kersting-Woods by email to AlexaKerstingWoods@maidstone.gov.uk

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