This week's Project Update focuses on the demolition of a landmark club

The former Co-op Sports and Social Club on Preston New Road in Marton is being bulldozed to make way for houses.'¨
Demoltion of the Co-op club, Preston New Road, Blackpool.Demoltion of the Co-op club, Preston New Road, Blackpool.
Demoltion of the Co-op club, Preston New Road, Blackpool.

In 2015 the council approved an outline planning application by the Co-operative Group to build up to 54 new homes on the site which also includes a football pitch at the rear.
The outline application is for a mix of two and three bedroomed terraced, semi-detached or detached dwellings.
The majority of the proposed dwellings will be two storey in height.
A commuted sum of £80,000 is set out in the plans to be paid to the council to enable the sports field to be replaced.
There will also be areas of landscaping.

The club closed down in 2013 when it’s management was unable to meet payments on debts of £42,000.

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It had seen membership levels dwindle from around 2,000 in its heyday to just under 300 before it closed.

The Co-op Club was originally based in Victoria Street but moved to its current site in the late 1960s.
It originally opened to provide social facilities for Co-operative employees including workers at the nearby bakery, now the site of McDonalds on Preston New Road.
Among its facilities were a snooker room with four tables, a lounge bar, and a function room with a dance floor.
As well as the football pitch, outside there were two bowling greens and a war memorial.

In 2015 the war memorial was relocated to the Fylde Memorial Arboretum at Moor Park Avenue, Bispham, and officially rededicated.
The stone was laid in commemoration of the many workers from the First Blackpool Co-operative Society who gave their lives in both world wars.