By Nick Griffiths

Last updated at 11:56, Thursday, 03 May 2012

A landmark pub that has stood empty for more than a year could reopen as a bar or restaurant.

The former Globe pub

Carlisle building firm boss Wayne McKnight bought The Globe, in the city’s Caldewgate, in January – and says he hopes the ground floor will be a pub following a revamp.

Mr McKnight, a partner in McKnight & Son Builders, also adds this part of the building is suitable for almost any business venture and is set to be leased.

The pub sits next to a forthcoming Sainsbury supermarket development and would be another stage in the ongoing redevelopment of Caldewgate, an area badly damaged during the 2005 floods.

A planning application has been submitted to put up toilets to serve the existing “commercial unit” on the ground floor of the standout building, which sits on one of the city’s busiest roads.

There are also proposals for eight bedsits in the upper floors, to be rented to students.

McKnights has recently overhauled a stretch of Botchergate with the redevelopment of Stanley Hall, which features shops and cafes.

Mr McKnight said: “We hope it will stop as a pub. It could be a pub or a restaurant. There is the potential for a kitchen to be down in the cellar.

“But it is open to offers. We’ll see who approaches us. The ground floor could suit anything.”

The Globe closed in December 2010 leaving just one pub, The Joiners Arms, in Caldewgate.

The area used to be home to several bars, including one of the city’s oldest, The Malsters Arms.

It was demolished in 2004 and the site used for student flats.

First published at 11:30, Thursday, 03 May 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk