Brewery plan as historic pub is sold

Businessman and former Blackpool Mayor Robert Wynne has bought the Blue Room on Church Street which has been closed since 2015.

Plans for the venue include the addition of a micro-brewery, renovation of the exterior and installing a creative hub on the upper floors.

Mr Wynne said: “It’s a beautiful building and really personal to me.

“This is my biggest project ever. It is a big commitment and I have pursued it for a long time.”

A not-for-profit society, 139 Church Street Community Pub Limited, had also been in the running to buy the hostelry and had hoped to raise between £250,000 and £300,000 by April 7 from the sale of shares.

But that bid did not succeed and Mr Wynne and his wife Gaynor, who already own venues in Blackpool including the West Coast Rock Cafe, the Pump and Truncheon and the Rose and Crown, have now purchased the property.

It will be renamed 1887 The Brew Room in recognition of its previous name and the year in which Blackpool Football Club was founded in the pub originally called The Stanley Arms.

Mr Wynne said: “We are going to put in a full size micro brewery which will be open and viewable.

“It will hopefully be a place that is all about the quality of the product, with a very unique set of beer offerings and craft lagers as well as ciders, gins and cocktails.

“We are also going to put in a branch of West Coast Choc Cafe as we realise not everyone wants alcohol.

“So it will be very different from what it used to be but still retaining its character.

“Part of the pub will be shrines to Blackpool FC and to the old Blue Room.

“We’ll be scaffolding all the outside of the building very soon and hopefully restoring it to its Victorian glory.”

Regulars will be able to become ‘beer buddies’ and meet with brewers to help select the beers which will be sold.

Mr Wynne, who said the investment added up to around £350,000 including the purchase and refurbishment, hopes to open the venue in November or December.

Around 20 part and full-time jobs will be created.

The creative hub will include sound rooms, recording rooms and rehearsal areas.

Mr Wynne had previously run the Blue Room for eight years until 2008 when he decided to concentrate on his other businesses and his mayoralty.

He was on the verge of buying the pub in August last year when it became a community asset, meaning owner Enterprise Inns was obliged to re-open bids to potential community operators.