A CITY centre bar has closed more than two years after it was launched following a £250,000 refurbishment.
The Amphitheatre Bar was based at the former Yates’s premises in Frodsham Street but the doors are now locked after Hargrave-based Caeser Trading Limited called time on the venture.
A notice has appeared on the door which reads: “Caeser Ltd, trading as Amphitheatre, can no longer continue and will cease to trade at 9am on Monday 26th March, 2012.
“We take this opportunity to thank you for your loyal support throughout.”
The venue, which originally employed about 30 full and part-time staff, had promised to be ‘the place to come for great music, live sports and a menu to suit every taste’.
The idea had been to build up the bistro side of the business during the day with the premises open from 9.30am selling breakfasts and brunches. Traditional pub food was served alongside several Italian dishes.
In the evening there was entertainment with DJs, tribute bands and ‘audience with’ events featuring sporting legends.
The Amphitheatre Bar had hoped to benefit from the amount of passing trade in Frodsham Street and the belief that economic conditions were about to improve in Chester city centre.
It took over the premises after Yates’s closed in 2008 as part of a national closure programme by parent organisation the Laurel Pub Company.
The company said a total of 60 Yates’s and Hog’s Head ‘wet-led’ outlets were closing as a result of ‘the smoking ban and poor trading conditions’.
