Bilton Working Men’s Club is to be renamed Bilton Club in an attempt to broaden its appeal.
The club revealed last month it planned to change its name for the first time since it was founded in 1913.
Names such as The Bilton and The Club @Bilton were among those suggested.
But Alan Huddart, the club treasurer, said the choice of Bilton Club was almost unanimous and would probably come into effect at the start of July. He said:
“We want to make the club as inclusive as possible.”
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The club has also appointed Phil Smith to the newly created post of manager.
Mr Huddart said Mr Smith, who previously managed Sports Direct in Harrogate, would be responsible for the day-to-day running of the club, which is on Skipton Road.
He will also be involved in moves to convert some of the unused space on the first and second floors into commercial and residential use.
Mr Huddart said the club was expecting “huge increases” in its energy bills and needed to find ways to generate more income.
Anyone can visit the club but members, who pay £10 to join and then an annual £10 fee, are entitled to 50p off the price of a pint. Membership costs half as much for seniors.
When will Skipton Road traffic misery end?
They were supposed to have moved three weeks ago, but the four-way traffic lights on one of Harrogate’s busiest roads are still bringing daily misery to hundreds of motorists.
Northern Gas Networks began work replacing metal pipes with plastic pipes beneath Skipton Road on July 13.
The project has required two sets of traffic lights on Skipton Road, plus lights on the adjoining King’s Road and Woodfield Road.
On September 18, Chris Reed, site manager at NGN, apologised for any inconvenience caused by the delayed project and assured the Stray Ferret the four-way lights would be replaced by two-way lights the following day as the project moved further along Skipton Road.
But since then the four-way lights have remained.
Besides delaying motorists, the lights have blighted the lives of residents and business.
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Bilton Working Men’s Club on Skipton Road has filed a claim for loss of earnings against NGN.
The Stray Ferret asked NGN if it could finally say when the four-way lights would be removed.
But Richard White, the company’s business operations lead, was unable to give a date.
Mr White said NGN was now resurfacing the Skipton Road end of King’s Road. He added:
“This is a major, complex project, involving the removal of a number of ageing metal gas pipes some of which are 70 or 80-years-old.”
He said completion of the entire project “remains on schedule for the end of November”. But no date before then for the end of the four-way lights was given.