Plan reflects Blackpool club's changing fortunes

Businessman Peter Bowden has applied for planning permission for the new use for areas of the ground floor at Club Domain on the Promenade.

But he said the nightspot would continue to operate with a refurbishment planned for next year.

He said: “My building holds 2,300 people but we do not need all that space now due to changes in the way people go out.

“There is an area of the building I have not used for a couple of years and so I have applied to use it as self storage which seems very popular.

“However I am planning to refurbish the rest of the club in time for next Easter.”

A planning application for the alterations says there is already a mix of uses operating on the site.

A heritage statement says: “The decline in the viability of the night time economy has been well documented in recent years, with bars, pubs and clubs closing.

“As spending habits have changed, licensing rules allow later pub drinking, and restrictions to the night time economy mean the viability of nightclubs has been adversely affected.

“Where large night clubs were popular in the past, this is not envisaged to revert in the future.”

It adds: “The provision of self-storage in this location is wholly appropriate and provides a viable alternative to the existing reliance on the declining night time economy.”

The site is located within the town centre conservation area, and the building first opened in 1912 as the Metropole Arcade, before being remodelled in 1922 to become the Princess Cinema.

Club’s history

The Bizness opened on the site in 1992, followed by Main Street with nine bars and eating areas under one roof. It later became the Waterfront, then Sanuk and now Club Domain.