Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Dining out in time for summer?
Entrepreneurs running the historic Westgate Towers complex are a step closer to their dream of a riverside seating area for the summer months.
Stephen Allen and James Caldon are co-owners of The Pound bar, which operates in the former city gaol building next to the medieval landmark.
They are celebrating completion of a new iron footbridge spanning the Stour and linking their premises with the riverbank opposite.
Talks with the council to rent the riverside space for al fresco refreshments have been ongoing.
But the authority’s regeneration and property committee has now agreed to press ahead with lease arrangements subject to public consultation.
Mr Allen told the Gazette: “It’s a step closer so it’s important this goes through the proper processes, of course.
“All going well we’ll have the seating area ready for the warmer weather. It would make a fantastic spot in the summer.”
Committee members agreed last week that if no one complains, the council will press ahead with lease arrangements.
Should local residents express concerns, however, the issue will be referred back to committee chairman Cllr Ben FitterHarding.
Mr Allen, who designed the eyecatching interior of The Pound, also drew up the plans for the new iron bridge.
He told the Gazette last week: “It’s designed to echo the exist- ing iron bridge which links the towers to the gaol building above street level.”
Mr Allen and Mr Caldon took on the site in 2014 and started an extensive internal overhaul.
Their three-year business plan includes the bar, a restaurant, the towers museum and business spaces on the first floor of the former music school on Pound Lane.
Plans to open a restaurant serving locally-sourced British cuisine have been put on hold while the partners find a head chef.
Attempts to find a fitting can- didate were shelved over the Christmas period.
Mr Allen said: “We’re actively looking again now and it’s our hope that we will have the restaurant running by the summer.”
The towers museum and rooftop viewing platform opened last August after renovations to the towers by the city council, which owns the complex.
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