Plans to transform former brewery and industrial yard in Lye into arts and entertainment hub run out of steam

The Steamyard Arts and Entertainment Village had hosted a number of live music and other events at the former Sadler's Bar and Brewery site on the Conyers Trading Estate since launching last summer and the offering had been garnering some top reviews.

But the directors have announced they have taken the decision to suspend trading as the hope of securing support and funding to grow the venture into an arts and entertainment venue that would have put Lye on the map and created hundreds of jobs appears to have fallen by the wayside.

A feasibility study was prepared in November 2024 for the West Midlands Combined Authority, supported with public funding from Arts Council England, to explore various ways the site could be transformed as part of a 10-year redevelopment plan.

Options listed in the detailed 126-page study as having potential to draw in visitors to the site, located next to Lye Railway Station, included a live music venue, cinema, film production space, wedding suite and possibly even a hotel among other possibles.

However, the plans are to be put on ice as there is no public funding or backing available to progress the project.