New nightclub at Corn Exchange on Castlegate, Newark to open by summer say building owners

The owner of Newark’s Corn Exchange says the venue could now re-open as a nightclub within weeks, the Advertiser can reveal.

Newark and Sherwood District Council approved the licence for potential tenants for the building on Monday.

Internal clearance and modernisation works are already taking place at the Grade-II listed building on Castlegate, with the full refurbishment expected to take no longer than six to eight weeks.

The tenants hope to open under the name Club X by the end of May or June.

It will be spread across two floors, with the ground floor and an upper balcony area overlooking the dancefloor below. There will be two bars ­— one for the ground floor and one on the first floor balcony area ­— as well as seating areas.

Matt Clark, of Corn Exchange Ltd, said: “Internally everything has been refreshed and renewed ­— new toilets, new bars, new dancefloor, new seating areas, new lighting, new sound, new decoration.

“There was a time where people broke in and did a documentary of the dilapidated state of the building, but right now it’s in quite a different condition.

“Within the next six to eight weeks, but certainly by the summer, I fully anticipate the doors will be back open.”

Mr Clark is also in talks to open up the basement and garden area to the rear of the building as a restaurant to allow for daytime and early evening trade to take place and compliment the nightclub, which will open in the late evenings after 10pm.

He said he had always tried to work with the community and talk with residents about their concerns and that nightclub operators will be running regular noise level assessments as well as reminding guests to be respectful of neighbours.

“The tenant will have that responsibility to continue communicating with the community and I’m confident that he will do that,” he said.

“One of the reasons the site has been closed for so long is not because of a lack of interest or people coming forward.

“We wanted to make sure that we took someone that would show the site some respect and isn’t just coming to be in there for a quick buck and instead is prepared to invest in the site and put the work in to ensure that it remains a community asset.

“While there is a perceived negative impact of nightclubs, I think if you look at it on a wider basis it helps feed the bars, takeaway, taxis and obvious things like that.

“But what people don’t always think about is that it helps the beauty and retail trade too. The hairdressers, barbers, clothes shops.

“If people have a reason to go out in the town they are more likely to dress up and spend money here too.

“When we bought the property the nightclub was incredibly successful and there is no reason for it not to be a strong site now.”