Midnight alcohol licence bid for new Fans Museum
ALCOHOL SALES ‘WOULD HELP TO OFFSET THE COST OF REPAIRS TO THE BUILDING’
Sunderland’s new Fans Museum could be given permission to sell alcohol up to midnight.
The community project, based at the former Monkwearmouth Railway Station, has lodged a premises licence bid with Sunderland City Council.
If approved, it would have permission to sell alcohol between 10am and midnight, seven days a week, alongside screening films and hosting live music.
The museum project is the brainchild of lifelong Sunderland AFC fan Michael Ganley, who has amassed a huge collection of memorabilia over the last 30 years.
This year, volunteers and tradespeople have been working to transform the 170-year-old building and former museum into a space to house the collection.
Mr Ganley, who submitted the application to the council, stressed that the alcohol licence will only form part of the museum’s offer.
This includes creating a “safe space” for the public, football fans and community groups to learn about Sunderland AFC’s history, alongside working with dementia and Alzheimer’s patients and veterans.
“It’s about creating a destination, creating a home for them and somewhere safe that they really want to come back to,” he said.
He stressed the alcohol licence would not see the museum “classed as a pub” with alcohol sales during sporting events helping to offset the cost of repairs to the building. This would include catering to people during screenings of international football matches, match days and other planned events.
In evidence submitted to the council, the Fans Museum has also outlined plans to meet licensing rules around preventing crime and disorder and protecting children from harm.
This includes keeping an alcohol refusals register, hiring door staff when needed and stopping any under 18s unaccompanied by an adult into the venue after 8pm.
When the venue is informed of a “high risk” football match by Northumbria Police, the venue would only provide plastic cups for customers.
Other aspects of the application include permission to play recorded music and provide late night refreshment, including buffets, between 10am and midnight.
The deadline for public representations passed on December 12 and the final decision rests with the council’s licensing team.
For more information visit fansmuseum.org or www. sunderland.gov.uk/licensing.