Fire-hit former social club will be demolished
AFORMER social club will be demolished after it was destroyed by a huge fire. Fire crews battled the fire at the former Barry Constitutional Club on Tuesday night after receiving a call at 8pm.
Smoke was seen billowing out of the club in a street of residential houses, and while the fire is now under control, it was still ongoing with firefighters working hard to put it out yesterday.
Despite the best efforts of the fire brigade, the building, which has been derelict since the club’s closure in 2014, has been deemed unsafe and will have to be demolished.
In a letter to nearby residents, a spokesman from site owners Hafod said: “Following a site meeting with the fire service and the Vale of Glamorgan’s building control team this morning the building has been deemed unsafe. Therefore it needs to be demolished as soon as it is safe to do so.
“To ensure safety during the demolition, the road will need to be closed initially for up to five days. We also need to install metal fencing around the perimeter of the site. This will include side and rear lanes.
“Partial demolition to make the building safe will start on May 17, and the full demolition of the building will take place at a later date. We apologise in advance for any disruption or inconvenience while this vital work is completed.
“The building has been derelict since 2014 and Hafod has owned it since November 2016. It was due to be demolished and redeveloped by Hafod following planning approval in 2016 to build 21 new homes. Timescales for the redevelopment had not been finalised as these were dependent of funding. These plans will not be affected by the fire.”
An investigation into the cause of the fire is under way but Hafod said it is still waiting on the outcome of this.
It was a frightening time for nearby residents who were asked to leave their houses with worries of the fire spreading or the building collapsing.
Ruth Mulis, 30, lives next to the club, and her home was evacuated overnight while firefighters tackled the flames.
She said: “We noticed it when it had just gone 8pm and my other half went to the back garden. I asked him what the smell was and we saw smoke billowing out of the club. He phoned the fire brigade but they had already been called and they pulled up minutes later.
“They asked if there was anyone in the house so I took my fiveyear-old daughter and went to a neighbour’s house. We stayed there for hours and had my little girl with me. We came back to the house at 11.30pm and 2am to see how things were and we went back into the house this morning. There was no damage, just the smell of smoke.
“For a period we were worried that everything was gone and we had lost everything and we thought the building was going to come down. Every time they seemed to have got it down it went back up again and every time it went back up it was getting worse. We’re feeling relieved now even though the building is still on fire.”
Neighbour Shayne Lewis, 60, was also fearing for his property, which became covered in smoke.
He said: “I thought the fire brigade would be able to put it out pretty quickly but as they tried to fight the fire it burst into flames and they called for more helpers to turn up. There were crews from all over.”
Former Barry Town footballer Richard Batt, 68, lives opposite the constitutional club. He said: “The club used to be a big part of the community but numbers dwindled and club members have passed on and youngsters don’t want clubs like that.”