A UNIVERSITY chief has said he hopes that a multimillion-pound refurbishment of a much-loved arts centre will see it transformed into a venue of national and international repute.

University of Sussex vice chancellor Michael Farthing said that the restoration of the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts would restore the “heartbeat of the campus” when it re-opens in the autumn after an eight-year wait.

Residents will be given an opportunity to enjoy a computer generated tour of the venue at a University of Sussex “shop” which opens in Brighton from noon today.

The university has taken on a jewellery store in Gardner Street opposite Komedia for a month where residents can also learn more about the university and studying there.

Previously known as the Gardner Arts Centre, the venue on the Falmer campus closed in 2007 following funding cuts.

University officials said that the long-anticipated reopening of the venue has been slowed by the difficulties of working in a listed building which was designed by Sir Basil Spence and opened in 1969.

The centre has been renamed after former chancellor Lord Richard Attenborough and his family, including two of his sons who are former university alumni and his daughter Jane Holland and granddaughter Lucy, who were tragically killed in Thailand during the 2005 tsunami.

Both Lord Attenborough and son Michael, a respected theatre director, have had a major input into the new design. As part of a planned opening ceremony for the venue, a portrait of the Brighton Rock star will be unveiled, made from the names of donors to The Sussex Fund.

The 351 capacity venue will be a multi-arts venue capable of hosting music gigs, theatre, comedy, orchestral performances and much more with a flexible theatre stage capable of hosting theatre-in-the-round and flexible seating which can be easily removed to expand the stage size.

Interviews for the centre’s creative director were held last Friday and an announcement is expected within weeks. Mr Farthing, who took up the post months after the venue closed, said: “There was a feeling from the start that the arts centre was the heartbeat of the campus, so many people remember going there over many years.

“It has been quite a difficult project in a lot of different ways, it’s an unusual space and if there was a problem we found it, if there was asbestos, we found it, and it has proceeded slower than any of us ever wanted.

“I discussed the project with Richard [Attenborough] when he was still chancellor and in the year before he became unwell and Michael has been personally involved.

“We will take it gradually, we are not going to come in with a nine month programme and packed to the gills every night.”

The shop will open in the afternoon from Monday to Friday and from 10am to 4pm on weekends and bank holidays.