One of the biggest pubs in York city centre is to be redeveloped and renamed, which its owners say will safeguard its future.
Thomas’s in Museum Street will become Be At One Cocktail Bar, under new plans by the Stonegate Pub Group.
The pub closed on March 4. Its most recent tenants posted on Facebook that day:
“Our holding position at Thomas’s Of York comes to an end today and all reservations will be cancelled.
“The building will soon be undergoing refurbishment and having a major rebrand and will reopen some time this year with new management.
“We’d like to thank all customers for your support and wish you all the best. From the team at Thomas’s.”
Stonegate have revealed pictures showing how the front of the building could look after the redevelopment. They say there will be a lot of redecoration and redesign work inside and out, but little structural work to building, which is Grade II listed.
Thomas’s was opened in 1861 by the hotelier William Thomas, and was then owned by a brewer called Thomas Lightfoot, before it became a John Smith’s pub in 1900.
It looked to have been lost as a pub in 2010, when the building was converted into a Mexican restaurant called Mojitos, but it returned to pub use and its old name just over a year later.
Stonegate has submitted a planning application to City of York Council. In the supporting paperwork, the company’s agents say redevelopment will keep the site viable.
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They wrote: “During the continuing difficult economic climate, the application site has suffered from lost revenue…
“It is important that the site enhances, updates and improves upon its customer offer and attraction, otherwise the site could continue to suffer serious detrimental effects on the ability to attract customers, thereby subsequently further affecting sales and viability to the detriment of the continued economic vitality of the public house.”
They say the pub is an “important commercial social, community leisure facility” but say bars need to “update and enhance” what they offer, in order to remain economically viable.
Be At One is a chain of cocktails bars. “No matter the occasion, we’ve got the tunes, cocktails and vibe to get you in the mood!” the website insists.
The closest one to York till now is in Leeds.
There are three separate planning applications which can be seen on the council website.