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Further investment is to be made at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens after town hall planners approved schemes to upgrade bars at the Empress Ballroom and the Opera House.

The Empress Ballroom balcony bar will be modernised from its current “look and feel of a 1970 working men’s club” to provide an upgraded VIP area for ballroom events.

Go ahead given for £1.7m loan to Blackpool Winter Gardens.

Work will include extending the bar, removing roller shutters ad replacing the carpet with a wooden floor.

An artist’s impression of the proposed new Opera House bar (picture Joseph Boniface Architects)

It follows the refurbishment of two other bars in the ballroom in 2021 which has seen turnover increase by more than 25 per cent.

Meanwhile the Circle Bar annex at the Opera House, which is currently used for storage, will be transformed into a private space offering “a luxury premium experience that can hold 16-20 guests”, according to documents submitted with the application.

Alterations include re-covering of fixed banquette seating, installation of a free-standing period bar, drinks cabinet and coat wardrobe, replacement of carpets with solid wooded floor, and conversion of banquette seating to the west of the room into a counter housing fridges.

Funding for both projects has come from a £1.7m loan agreed by Blackpool Council in September last year from the authority’s £200m business loans fund, towards renovations.

The Empress Ballroom balcony bar as it looks now (picture from Blackpool Council planning)

Both applications were approved using delegated powers.

It is now nearly 13 years since the council bought the Winter Gardens, and a number of improvement programmes are ongoing as part of a 10-year investment programme. A recent survey showed £19m of upgrades are needed.

Winter Gardens managing director Michael Williams said: “The proposed refurbishment of the Empress Ballroom Bar and Opera House Circle Bar is being financed by the loan that was approved in 2022.

“The initial refurbishment and investment into the Empress Ballroom bars, The Galleon Bar and the Victoria, is already proving successful with improved efficiencies and enhanced sales.

“Our next two projects will ensure improved pre and interval service for show nights to reduce crowding and queuing times in the Galleon Bar and will also allow us to rent our the spaces for private hire and corporate hospitality.

“It is also hoped the improvements will help boost revenue at the Winter Gardens which will be invested back into the ongoing maintenance of the venue.”

Blackpool's Winter Gardens given the go ahead for investment plans