Plans to demolish a former city centre nightclub and replace it with a block of 56 flats are set to be approved.

LPW Development UK Ltd wants to knock down the former Chicago Rock Cafe, in Foundry Street, Hanley, and put up a six-storey building in its place, with ground floor commercial units and five floors of accommodation.

But the iconic Art Deco foyer of the old Odeon cinema on the corner of Foundry Street and Trinity Street, which has been used as a bar, will be retained under the proposals. Planning officers at Stoke-on-Trent City Council have recommended the development for approval, saying it will bring a brownfield site in the city centre back into use.

Members of the council's planning committee will consider the application when they meet on Wednesday.

The report to the committee states: "The redevelopment of the site is welcomed in principle as it will enable the repurposing of a brownfield and under utilised site, meeting with the council's strategic aims and objectives, allowing for the site to be brought back into use, located within Hanley city centre."

The iconic Art Deco foyer of the old Odeon will be retained under the proposals (LDRS).

Plans for the scheme were first submitted in 2021, and according to the report they have been 'subject to ongoing detailed discussions' between the applicant and the council.

The proposed residential units would consist of six studios, 45 one-bedroomed apartments, and five two-bedroomed apartments. The ground floor would include 714 square metres of flexible commercial space, along with the existing bar.

It is not yet known what business would occupy the ground floor. But planning officers say that using the space in this way would 'assist in contributing to the ongoing vitality of the city centre, whilst creating active frontages at ground floor level within a key location'.

Nineteen parking spaces would be provided on the lower ground floor, with vehicular access off Lower Foundry Street. Communal amenity space will be provided through the creation of a roof terrace at first floor level.

The former Odeon is identified locally as a 'building of special interest', but heritage officers say their comments have been 'satisfactorily addressed' by the applicant.

The Odeon was built after the Grand Theatre burned down in 1932. The cinema closed in 1975 and remained mostly vacant until 1999 when the foyer was converted into a bar.

In 2003 the former auditorium was renovated and turned into Chicago Rock Cafe. The nightspot was later renamed Chicago's and closed its doors for the last time in 2020.

The Odeon cinema closed in 1975 after which the building was left empty. The auditorium was stripped in the early 1980s and used for storage.

By 1991, the building was standing derelict. In 1999, the former foyer along Trinity Street was converted and operated as a bar and, in 2003, the former auditorium was renovated and converted into the Chicago Rock. The nightspot closed during the Covid-19 pandemic 2020 and never reopened.

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