HOUSE of Fraser could end up housing Swindon’s museum and art gallery.

The town centre store is one of a number of options being looked at by the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Trust and Swindon Borough Council. It is expected trouble-hit firm House of Fraser will leave the Brunel Centre store after Christmas.

Museum trust boss Rod Hebden said he wanted to hear people’s suggestions of where a new museum could be housed and criteria by which potential sites should be judged: “Nothing is being ruled out.”

The request comes after the Heritage Lottery Fund turned down a £12.7m grant bid by the trust in May. Trust bosses hoped it would fund the bulk of £22m costs for a purpose-built museum building in Swindon town centre.

A Swindon Borough Council team is currently assessing potential sites for a new museum.

Dr Hebden said: “My starting point is that nothing is ruled out. The Mechanics is already on the list, the Carriage Works is already on the list to be assessed.”

When House of Fraser announced in June that their Swindon department store was one of 31 closing, several people suggested the Brunel Centre building could house the museum.

“It’s on the list,” said Dr Hebden. “It’s right in the town centre, it’s accessible and it’s a modern building. The capital costs to convert it would be lower.”

Other suggestions might include splitting the collection and exhibiting it in different locations across the town: “You might have the art at Lydiard Park and the collection somewhere else. All of these things need to be costed. There’s no limit to the creativity and Swindon people have shown they can innovate. It may well be that in Swindon we come up with a new model for delivering this.”

As well as asking people for suggestions of locations that could house an expanded museum, Dr Hebden also wants to hear recommendations for the criteria by which possible sites could be judged. Reports produced in the run up to the recent HLF bid established floor space requirements, but Dr Hebden said there are other categories that could be equally important to people: “It might be about having enough space for learning, enough space for communities or being in the town centre.”

People have until August 27 to submit their ideas. Their suggestions will influence the borough council officers working on the options appraisal report. That report is expected to go to the Cabinet in due course.

To contribute your ideas, visit: www.swindonmuseum.org.uk, email museumandarttrust@swindon.gov.uk or write to Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, Bath Road, SN1 4BA.