A second Shrewsbury pub is scrapping its children’s play area in a £250,000 revamp which will create 20 jobs.
The Beaten Track, on Old Potts Way, closes for four weeks today, Thursday, while the premises are completely overhauled.
The owner, Orchid Pubs Limited, applied to Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council to vary its licence to allow the development last December. The pub’s Funhouse will be replaced with extra dining space for around 100 customers.
The company says the play area is no longer profitable and it follows a similar move by The Grapes, in Welshpool Road, which closed its Wacky Warehouse last year. Both pubs are owned by the same company.
Deputy manager of The Beaten Track, Jodie Northwood, said the Funhouse closed on Sunday and a goodbye party was held on Saturday.
Shrewsbury childminders were among those who used the facility regularly.
Jackie Roberts, a member of the Shropshire Community Network, said they now had to find somewhere else to hold their weekly meeting. “It’s a shame because the children had so much fun there,” she said.
The Beaten Track, which is part of the Cineworld complex, will reopen on April 19.
A spokesman for Orchid Pubs said: “The Beaten Track is closing on March 13 and their Funhouse will also close. It’s not commercially viable and with lots of new independent funhouses opening up locally, the feedback from customers was that they’d prefer a bigger dining area.
“The Beaten Track will be having a massive refurb with a spend of £250,000.
“A new manager, Mandy Burton, has been appointed and the pub expects to create a further 20 jobs.”