Stafford County Council has accepted a bid from Joule’s Brewery to buy Stone’s Old Fire Station building, adjacent to Crown Wharf, which Joule’s already owns. The brewer has submitted plans to build a brewery taphouse and studio theatre.
Brewery director, Steve Nuttall, said: “We are delighted to have a deal agreed. It will be an important part of the new Joule’s Taphouse and Theatre, which we have proposed to build on Crown Wharf. We will landscape this site within the whole development to act as a gateway to the canal from Stone town centre.
“Our agreement with the town council is then to provide the building for use as a heritage centre, which we will sponsor by way of a subsidy, charging just £1 per year. The building is charismatic and it will form a part of the suite of buildings that will make up the new Joule’s footprint in Stone if planning is granted.
“It’s an extraordinary building which was once part of the original Joule’s footprint in Stone, opposite the Crown and Anchor yard, once the old Joule’s cooperage, adjacent to the Joule’s warehouse and bordering the original brewery site.”
‘Tremendous addition to the town’
Rob Kenney, Stone town councillor and member of the Crown Wharf steering group, added: “This is terrific news. Joule’s have committed to offering the Fire Station to the town for just £1 year. We can now work
up the plans to refurbish the building and look at how we will operate it.
“I think it will be a tremendous addition to the town and the exciting Crown Wharf development. The council is not obligated to lease the building, so we will consult in the coming months and check this is something that the town supports.
“We just now have to hope that planning for Crown Wharf is approved. The application is still with the planners, who have expressed some reservations about the scheme.”
Joule’s says its support for this project is driven first by a desire to mark the return of the brewery to Stone. Second, the brewery wishes to promote the Crown Wharf site as an art and leisure orientated location, and to recognise the wharfs relevance to the original brewery, sitting adjacent to the listed original brewery stores. Third, the Fire Station is an essential gateway to the whole Crown Wharf development.
