One of Dundee’s most popular pubs will close temporarily as it undergoes a major face-lift.
The Trades House Bar, located on the city’s Nethergate, will close for 11 days from August 6 to 16 while its interior is spruced up for the first time since it opened 20 years ago.
Once a major trading warehouse, it was taken over by the Bank of Scotland at the end of the 19th century before later being converted to its current form in 1997.
The establishment has won various awards in its two decades of trading, including being named best pub in the city.
The interior of the open plan bar still retains many of its most striking original Victorian features which the revamp will seek to incorporate.
The mosaic flooring and oak interior will remain, as will the famous coat-of-arms which has adorned the granite front of the building for more than 100 years.
The key aspects of the upgrade will see new furniture brought in to replace the old oak chairs with new booths incorporated.
The numbers of covers will also increase from 88 to 100.
General manager Tracy Cooper said the upgrade will be “in keeping” with the building’s history and design.
She said: “It will be a sympathetic refurbishment similar to what has just been completed at Greyfriars Hotel St Andrews.
“The Trade House Bar has had nothing done for 20 years so we’re looking forward to polishing the place up.
“There are no structural changes and the historical features of the pub will remain.”
The pub started off life as one of Dundee’s most famous shops — Moon, Langlands & Co.
It was a firm of wholesale and retail warehousemen who sold everything, from silks and shawls to hats and hosiery, from tartans and towelling to carpets and cashmere.
In an advert dated 1845 Moon, Langlands list no less than 27 different departments with its dresses very popular with local women.
Moon, Langlands was in business for half a century until the premises were taken over by the Bank of Scotland in 1898.
The corner site then remained a branch of that bank for almost a century, before closing down in 1996. It was then taken over the following year by well-known local licensed trade stalwarts Gerry and Blair Morrison, and their wives, Lynn and Val.
It is now run by Greene King, which owns almost 3000 pubs, restaurants and bars across the UK.
