Plans to re-open Wolverhampton club a year after being forced to close by the council
A city centre club which was forced to close by the council could re-open under new owners.
The plans for the new late-night Apollo venue in Skinner Street, Wolverhampton, would replace the former Astoria which had its licence revoked by City of Wolverhampton Council last year.
The new licensing application asks for permission to host indoor sporting events, boxing, wrestling and live music from 10am to 6am every day.
The application also asks to be allowed to serve alcohol until 5am.
The move comes from Apollo Entertainments Ltd which is owned by Ricki Wellman, who also runs the city’s Gorgeous Nightclub in School Street, the Royal London pub in Wulfruna Street and the White Hart in Worcester Street.
The venue has been closed since December last year after City of Wolverhampton Council revoked the club’s licence after managers continually ignored rules on notifying West Midlands Police before big events – which led to trouble.
The force said it had been in a year-long battle with Astoria accusing them of “undermining people’s safety” and ignoring requests to be notified of events – a key condition of its licence. Police said failing to make them aware of events throughout the year had led to disorder at the venue including officers with Tasers.
West Midlands Fire Service also had its concerns saying the owners of Astoria “took it upon themselves to carry on” despite knowing the venue could not open without its authorisation that the building was up to scratch – and they had “failed on numerous occasions” to complete fire safety checks.
The venue’s fire alarms were also never fully serviced – with testing only carried out on the one floor that was occupied rather than the whole building.
The 700-capacity venue, billed as “Wolverhampton’s premier multi-functional venue” had hosted Sky Sports boxing, Bongo’s Bingo, and Euro 2024 games as well as raves, DJ sets, gigs and stand-up comedy after opening last year.
The former cinema opened in 1937 before later becoming a bingo hall. The building was turned into a banquet suite in 2008.
The previous Diamond Banqueting Suite was raided by police in 2021 who found a £700,000 cannabis farm. The venue was given a new licence a year later.
Astoria opened in 2023 following a £1m makeover but had closed just 14 months later.
