Louis Wilkinson says he hopes the Monica Sports Club can become a community asset, with a pledge to allow young people aged over 14 access
Inside the Monica Sports Club on Alexandra Road.(Image: Louis Wilkinson)
A father and son team have invested about £100,000 in resurrecting a well-known pool and snooker hall in Hull. Louis Wilkinson and his dad Gary Wilkinson have returned from Majorca, where they were running a bar, to reopen the Monica Sports Club.
The property on Alexandra Road has since been a gospel church, with Louis having led the complete refurbishment of the building to create a new pool, snooker and darts venue that is open to members. After planning permission was granted last year, it has been turned back into the Monica Sports Club.
“We just want everyone to see that it’s back,” explained Louis. “We’ve renovated the whole lot – it had been quite run down but now it’s like brand new.”
Louis says hundreds of people have passed the Alexandra Road property, which is near the junction with Newlands Avenue, and called in to enquire about its reopening. Such are the memories of Monica’s, many of those are impressed with its new look.
Louis added: “They come in and say ‘wow’, it’s totally different from what it used to be. It was previously just snooker tables but now we’re more like a sports club with snooker, pool and darts.
“I also want to do a lot with the community – with school kids and naughty kids. So we’re going to work with the council to do that. When I was at school, I was a bit naughty but I was given privileges like that so now I want to give back, and offer that to other kids.
“If kids want to come in with a carer or worker for a couple of hours during the day, we’ll give them that – as long as they’re off the street.”
The venue is open to those aged 14 and over, with half price memberships available until the end of June. That means customers pay £10 for an annual membership that would ordinarily be £20, with young people between 14-17 paying £5 and over 65s go free. Guests pay a £2 entry per session, with an additional 50p on table and bar prices.
The venue is equipped with two snooker tables, four pool tables and five dart boards including two interactive dart boards. And members can enjoy the facilities seven days a week.
Louis added: “Since my dad bought the building, he must have had at least ten people a year ask him about when he was going to open it back up. And we’ve already had 150 members sign up within a week – which is not bad.”
Plans are afoot to establish teams in the months ahead, with Louis saying he hopes to give time for customers to check out the facilities first.
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