Restaurants to reopen as bar

10:15am Thursday 23rd August 2007

Comments (0)   Have your say »

MIKE Connett wants to make a space for supporters to gather on match days.

He plans to convert former restaurants at the Victoria Stadium, closed since May, into a sports bar and diner for fans.

It should be open by the end of next month.

"I had three buyers who all wanted to do the same thing," he told the Guardian on Monday.

"So I thought if that's the way people see that space being used I might as well do it myself.

"It will be open for our supporters to use during the week and on match days."

Two eateries, one Italian-themed the other Spanish, opened in autumn last year only to close in May after Connett claimed he had proven there was a market for them in the area.

It's not the only change the Vics chairman plans to make.

Work on changing the old Herriots Bar into a Chinese restaurant, to be operated by China Red, is also imminent according to Connett.

"Development is now all systems go," he wrote in his programme notes before Saturday's clash with Torquay United.

That includes work on all weather pitches and a marina, with a Christmas completion date pencilled in for both projects.