A welcome awaits: the Spread Eagle re-opens tonight after a £300,000 refurbishment
The Spread Eagle on Katharine Street re-opens tonight, after a £300,000 refurbishment that seals the handover of the Fuller’s-owned pub to Whelans.
Whelans is an Irish-themed pub chain that already operate several busy pubs in and around Croydon, including the Bedford Tavern on Sydenham Road and the eponynous Whelans in South Croydon.
Whelans, with a new manager, will be running the town centre Spread Eagle as tenants, with bold plans for live music every weekend (starting this Saturday), re-opening the room upstairs for events and possibly performances, and offering what the business owner calls “something for everybody”.
If nothing else, the Spread Eagle’s new opening times – Monday to Saturday, 11am to midnight, Sundays 11am to 10.30pm – are likely to appeal to world-weary councillors after their next Town Hall meeting. Long sessions in the Chamber of the crisis-hit council have often run until after 10pm, when the previous managers were calling last orders.
Opening hours: the rebranded Spread Eagle
A previous, brief closure of the Spread Eagle allowed for initial stocktaking and changes.
The pub then closed on May 1 for extensive refurbishments, including replacement equipment and furniture, a new sound system and wide-screen TVs to provide one of the pub’s entertainment staples, televised sport.
The Spread Eagle’s doors are due to open again at 5pm today.
Austin Whelan, the founder of the business, told Inside Croydon: “We want to be a good family-based local. We want to open the function room upstairs for events for our customers. We want to offer something for everybody.
“We’re trying to put on good service and good food, just as we’re known for in our other pubs in the area.”
Read more: Riches-to-rags-to-riches tale of South Croydon publican
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