The bar and brasserie, originally known as Brown’s and more recently as Drapers, has been earmarked to provide a major cultural offering for the Coventry City of Culture year.
The building was purchased in 2013 by the Alan Edward Higgs Charity to be part of a previous scheme to redevelop the adjoining Draper’s Hall. The Charity has now generously donated the building to the Historic Coventry Trust to help the wider regeneration of the area.
Under the Trust’s ownership, the bar will be re-purposed as a temporary exhibition space during Coventry’s UK City of Culture year in 2021 and then become part of the wider regeneration project of the Cathedral Quarter.
Drapers’ Hall itself is being fully restored as a new multi-purpose venue in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter, and will become the base for Coventry Music Service, who offer music education for Coventry’s schoolchildren, as well as provide performance rooms for a wide variety of arts and community events.
Historic Coventry Trust formally took ownership of Drapers’ Hall from Coventry City Council last year, and the £4.5 million restoration project is due to be completed in March 2021.
The Charity’s vision was to integrate the Drapers’ Hall and Drapers Bar to create a music and hospitality hub. The Trust, expanding that idea, is now developing that project with more elements to become a major part of the City’s cultural offer.