Sunbridgewells to reopen on June 26 after lockdown lifted

The underground complex, featuring a host of bars and shops, will reopen to customers at noon on Saturday, June 26.

It will be the second time the site has been open since it shut its doors on March 20 last year, when the initial lockdown restrictions were imposed by the Government for all leisure and hospitality facilities.

It reopened on August 28 last year for a couple of months until the second lockdown was brought in by the Government. It has been shut ever since.

When Sunbridgewells does reopen this time it will have social distancing measures in place including a one-way system, customers will have to wear masks on entrance to the complex, Test and Trace and hand sanitising stations at the complex.

Graham Hall of Sunbridgewells

Graham Hall, of Yeadon-based developer Sunbridgewells, says the site will be deep cleaned ahead of its reopening.

He still hopes it still goes ahead on June 26 and there are no more restrictions put in place later this month for Bradford, with full restrictions scheduled to be lifted by the government on June 21.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to make an official announcement on June 14 about whether the final lockdown restrictions will be lifted seven days later, which may affect Sunbridgewells’ reopening plans.

Mr Hall said: “It’s exciting to be reopening.

“We will only be reopening if the Government allows it.

“It was just not worth doing it before now. We will have the same safety measures in place like we did before when we reopened last year.

“We will be spending a week cleaning the place down before we reopen.

“We have re-let a lot of the bars after people went during lockdown. The Rose & Crown will reopen, as will the gin bar and Visage.

“There are still a lot of people who don’t know Sunbridgewells exists, when we’ve been open for nearly five years.”

Sunbridgewells confirmed the news it is reopening, in a message on its Facebook page.

It posted: “We are delighted to say that we will be re-opening our doors to everyone on June 26 as an entire venue.

“We do hope no further restrictions come into play.

“We all look forward to seeing you all very soon. Exciting times ahead.”

The complex opted against reopening on July 4 last year, when pubs and restaurants across England were allowed to resume trading.

This decision was made the previous month in the “interest of public safety”.

The £1.9million complex opened to the public in December 2016, with more than 20,000 visitors in its first two weeks.

It was officially opened by the Princess Royal, Princess Anne, in June 2017.

During her visit, which lasted an hour and 10 minutes, Princess Anne was given a guided tour of the site and unveiled a plaque in Wallers Brewery.

More than 200 VIP guests, including former Bradford Council leader, Councillor David Green, attended the event. Princess Anne also stopped to have a chat to a number of owners of huts selling goods including food and flowers.