Council to buy and demolish town centre pub

Harry's Bar in Oldham, as it looked before it closed. Image courtesy of Google Maps

Oldham council plans to spend £1m to buy and demolish a vacant building in the town centre to ‘improve sightlines’ to the Coliseum theatre. 

The local authority is currently finalising a deal to buy Harry’s Bar on Yorkshire Street, with plans to replace the building with an ‘attractive town square’ that will help entice people towards the theatre and shops.

The project, funded by a £2.5m pot from the government’s Community Regeneration Partnership funding, was greenlit by council leaders at a cabinet meeting last week.  

Council boss Arooj Shah told the committee: “This marks a really significant step in our commitment to revitalising the cultural quarter and Oldham’s town centre.

"This specific building on Yorkshire Street has been neglected for so long. 

“It’s exchanged hands so many times over time, meaning people have purchased it and then left it there and done absolutely nothing with it.

"This will mean that this will now give us an opportunity to create a really vibrant space for residents and visitors to enjoy when they come and visit the Coliseum in the future.” 

The cabinet report did not disclose the exact building under offer due to ‘commercial interests’, with a report stating: “There is a vacant property located on Yorkshire Street in a prominent position, which has historically negatively impacted on the theatre experience and added to the lack of visibility of the theatre entrance.” 

But the Local Democracy Reporting Service can now confirm the deal concerns Harry’s Bar at the corner of Fairbottom Street, which closed down in early 2024.

The building is listed for sale on the property market site Zoopla for £470k.

Once purchased, the council will need to submit planning applications for its demolition and for the creation of the new square. 

The move has been met with criticism after rumours of the sale emerged online, with some members of the public calling it a ‘vanity project’, while others worried it was another nail in the coffin for the town’s dwindling nightlife offer. 

Oldham Council stated they could not respond to these comments due to commercial sensitivity.

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