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Officer's Club to revive magic of Pemps
A town centre club is to revive memories of the legendary Pemps nightclub.
The Officers Club in Barracks Yard wants to reach out to the old crowd who regularly visited the venue in Dorning Street.
The first of the Pemps nights at the Officers Club will begin this Saturday at 1am until 5am.
It will be free to get in and both floors will play the sounds Pemps was famous for, such as Motown and soul.
Club manager Mike Hall said: "We just want to do something for the older crowd who used to go to Pemps, we want to provide something for them again.
Peter Hughes, the venue's managing director, said: "We are reintroducing Pemps at the Officers Club because we had a strong connection with the club and the club's owner Barbara Calderbank who died earlier this year.
"She used to drink with us and we would go to Pemps or back to her house.
"We have decided to go with the idea because of customer demand really.
"Customers kept asking why can't we do what Barbara did and we felt it was only appropriate to try and offer them something."
The legendary Pemps shut its doors three years ago. Barbara Calderbank was renowned for choosing – sometime arbitrarily – who she wanted to let in her club.
Regulars knew that if she "didn't know your face, you weren't getting in". Peter said: "Unfortunately we won't have Barbara on the door to choose who we let in but we will be operating a door policy."
Those who frequented Pemps would remember the scruffy state the club was in and the cheap plastic chairs.
The Officers Club will be offering the Pemps experience but in a more comfortable atmosphere.
Peter said: "We have all new furniture and have spent a fortune on new toilets. It's a nice, comfortable environment and we have had great comments from customers."
Peter said that the closure of Pemps and Barbara's death had left a void in Wigan's entertainment scene.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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