An award-winning Walsall pub could be bulldozed to make way for a hotel, restaurant or another bar as part of the town’s £180 million Waterfront development - shocking staff who say they have been kept in the dark.
The Wharf Bar in Wolverhampton Street, which opened in 1997, is one of the few remaining live music venues following the closure of the Littleton Arms to make way for the town’s new ring road.
Urban Splash, the company behind the Waterfront scheme, has applied to Walsall Council for planning permission and expect a decision by the end of the year.
The news has shocked the bar’s manager Lee Dyble and staff who know nothing about the plans.
Mr Dyble said:”We obviously know Urban Splash are planning a major development but I haven’t heard anything about the future of the pub being under threat. This news has come as a shock to all of us.”
Discussions have been taking place between Urban Splash and the bar’s owners XS Entertainment who have a long lease on the building.
No-one from XS Entertainment was available to comment today.
If a deal cannot be struck between the two parties Urban Splash has stressed the bar will be retained and the development built around it.
A spokeswoman said:”The land has the potential to be a hotel or commercial space including a ground floor bar or restaurant.
“The future use of the space will depend on the outcome of discussions with the Wharf Bar’s owners and we will continue discussions until a solution is found.
“If we can come up with a solution that benefits everyone, including the tenants of the Wharf Bar, it will be progressed but the scheme works whether the Wharf stays or goes.”
In 1997 the bar won the New Build national design award from the Campaign for Real Ale. It was the first time in 14 years the group found any new pub they felt deserved the title.
Camra hailed it a design of “courage and foresight.”
By Emma Tate
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