Homes and shops plan for former Tile Hill club site

[dutchman]

One of Coventry’s biggest former social clubs is set to be demolished to make way for a new housing and retail complex.

Plans are being prepared to turn Tile Hill Social Club in Jardine Crescent into shops and houses

The former boss of the social club plans to knock down the premises and is consulting with local residents on the design of what should replace it.

Kuljeet Sapra, 31, ran the club for six years and has a long term lease on the land, which is owned by Coventry City Council.

He has displayed a number of proposed designs in Tile Hill Library and is now asking for the community to come up with suggestions of what should be done with the area.

He said: “It was a massive building designed in a time when these club facilities were used to a maximum.

“We invested a lot of money but towards the end of our time running the place the membership just disintegrated and it was just not viable.

“We were losing money year on year and we just couldn’t maintain the losses.

“We’re hoping to add to the existing shops here and add family housing at the back. Ultimately it’s dependent on the community and the council giving us the go-ahead.”

The social club underwent refurbishments costing £100,000 before its shock closure 18 months ago.

Locals were surprised as without warning, workers began removing fixtures and fittings from the premises which had served the community since the 1960s.

Mr Sapra owns a number of other city businesses and hopes new retail premises will help draw in footfall and benefit existing shops in Jardine Crescent.

Planning permission to demolish the site and rebuild the area has not yet been submitted to Coventry City Council.

Mr Sapra added: “We put initial plans out there and the retailers weren’t happy and the community wasn’t happy because it didn’t have parking at the front, so we’ve gone back to the drawing board on the design front.

“We’re hoping to add some kind of community space to the development, some kind of meeting place. It could be a hall or something because we know a lot of old aged pensioners used the club. That’s 100 per cent – that has to be in place.”

Since its closure the city has lost another of its former bustling clubs in Stoke Ex-servicemen’s Club.