Plans to convert the former M&S on Durham’s Silver Street into a bustling STACK were greenlit in April 2023 and it was initially hoped the venue would open that winter.
But bosses were forced to admit later that year that work had not progressed as quickly as they had hoped due to “unforeseen delays” and work failed to get underway in the following months, with the city’s MP Mary Kelly Foy branding the boarded-up shopfront a “stain” on the street last summer.
The building was described as a blight on the street. (Image: The Northern Echo)
But lorries and workers were finally seen entering the Silver Street venue on Tuesday (January 7), with the firm, which opened a new venue in Middlesbrough last month, confirming work is now underway.
Neill Winch, STACK CEO, said: “STACK can confirm that work has begun today on STACK Durham which will initially see the removal of the asbestos at the site, followed by the stripping out of the interiors.
“Once this is done we will be conducting further surveys so we get a full picture of what else – if anything – may need to be carried out before we can start transforming the building into a STACK.
“We are hopeful that STACK Durham will open in 2025.”
Once built the Durham site will host food vendors, live music, and events.
On the ground floor, there will be eight food traders and two ground areas surrounding a central seating ‘plaza’. A stage will host live music and comedy.
There will be four more food traders and two more bars on the first floor, with the second floor designated for a games area.
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A licence to sell alcohol between 10am and 12am Monday to Thursday, extended to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays was also approved.
Stack first opened on Newcastle’s Pilgrim Street in 2018, and rocketed in popularity to be one of the city’s busiest venues. It was forced to close in May 2022 to make way for new government offices being developed on former Odeon cinema site. It expanded to Seaburn in September 2020 at the height of lockdown.
Its new St James’ Stack opened last summer with the Middlesbrough venue being the latest in its portfolio. Meanwhile plans for a new Newcastle Stack in Worswick Chambers on Pilgrim Street in the city, just a stone’s throw from Stack’s initial location, are progressing and the venue is being touted to open this year.
Other venues are also planned in Bishop Auckland and Whitley Bay among others.