A Merseyside casino is set to open as a hotel featuring a wedding venue, brewery and sky bar.
One of Southport's most iconic landmarks, The Grand Casino on Lord Street, is set to be brought back to its former glory by The Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group creating more than 100 jobs.
The Group already own some of Southport's most striking venues including The Bold Hotel, Lord Street Hotel, Punch Tarmey's Irish Pub, Lord Street Sports Bar and is also the operator of the new development at Southport Market.
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Chairman Andrew Mikhail said: "Bringing fabulous buildings back to life is such a rewarding feeling and a building as stunning as The Grand Casino deserves to be enjoyed by the people of Southport and beyond. The Grand is both Southport and Lord Street's jewel in the crown. "
He said that it was a sensible decision to invest in the building 'having already invested millions into our current developments in Southport's Northern Quarter'.
The building has fallen into disrepair over the years and was reconstructed as The Grand Cinema in 1938 and formerly Richard Woodhead's car showroom dating from 1923 will be brought back to life by Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group.
Andrew added: "The plan is to create much needed five-star hotel rooms, a wedding venue, Southport's very own brewery and a new and exciting fun themed bar for all age groups incorporating entertainment for families during the day with a wide variety of gaming, pool-tables, shuffle boards, golf and football simulators, tenpin bowling, darts plus much more.
"After 9pm each evening, the venue will be strictly for over 18s only, making The Grand the perfect place for a date night or a fun night out with friends."
Behind The Grand will see the creation of a much-needed car park for Lord Streets Northern Quarter. The Mikhail Group also has eager ambitions in bringing to Southport one of Europe's largest sky bars.
Andrew said: "I can't thank Sefton Council enough, especially Stuart Barnes and his teams, for all their help in achieving the first two phases of investment which has given me the confidence to carry on and we are looking forward to sitting down with all the relevant parties at Sefton Council and getting this final and largest phase over the line. These are very exciting times for Southport town centre again."
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