YOU ARE HERE: BRICK DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION > LATEST NEWS > HISTORIC BUILDING BECOMES MODERN LEISURE FACILITY

HISTORIC BUILDING BECOMES MODERN LEISURE FACILITY

The Post House in Stafford, also known as Chetwynd House, has been turned into a fashionable leisure centre, housing a coffee shop, patisserie, restaurant, bar, club, conference hall for corporate events and a roof garden. The BDA was informed that £5.5m investment has also provided employment to 80 local residents.

Chetwynd House became Stafford’s General Post Office in 1914. Despite this, the handsome red-brick house built in 1746 by William Chetwynd of Brocton still maintains many of its original features including some fine oak panelling.

The transformation of the former post office was funded by local businessman Dennis Foster and was backed with a loan from Barclays. Foster says that the new facility allows visitors to spend a whole day inside and find anything they need there. Future plans for the facility include a smartphone app which will allow visitors to order drinks from the bar.

The Post House had been disused for four years and obtaining planning permission took two more. The renovated leisure centre opened in December 2011.