Ambitious plans to turn landmark Wednesbury building into entertainment venue

Wednesbury Conservative and Unionist Club, in Walsall Street, shut its doors in January marking the end of an era.

But now it has been snapped up by the owners of the town's Church Hill Social Club and is set to become an entertainment venue, creating 15 jobs, with party and function room hire, a carvery and an outdoor marquee.

It will be called Churchills after paying host to Winston Churchill and several other influential figures – including former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine and William Hague – in its heyday.

A tweet on a newly set up Twitter page for the venue confirms it will be 'Wednesbury's newest entertainment and function venue for all the family'.

Chris Wardle, who is behind the ambitious plans, said: "We are in the initial stages with things at the moment but as we already own Church Hill Social Club we hope to do all the things we do already, such as entertainment and a carvery but on a bigger scale.

"We have got lots of plans for it.

"Hopefully 10 to 15 jobs could be created from it too."

The club originally contained a large function room, lounge bar, games room and bowling green.

As Wednesbury Conservative Club it had been experiencing financial difficulties for a number of years and in 2011 members were asked to dig into their own pockets to keep the club afloat and avoid it having to take out long term loans.

During the height of its popularity it had around 3,000 members.

It was put up for sale by Walsall estate agents Fraser Wood with a price tag of £350,000 in February.

Councillor Elaine Costigan, who represents the Wednesbury North ward, said it was great news.

She added: "It is great that Chris has bought it and will be turning it into a huge entertainment venue.

"It was extremely sad following its closure and there were even fears about the building's future, so this is just fantastic news as it will be supporting the community and Wednesbury as a whole.

"It's going to be taking on staff so its good news in terms of more jobs for the area too.

"So much is going on at the moment in the town and it's extremely positive."