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A Historic church on an ancient site in the centre of Derby is undergoing a £1m refurbishment to turn it into a restaurant.
St Werburgh's Church, a Grade II listed building in Cheapside which has stood empty for more than a decade, will be turned into Chinese buffet restaurant Wokmania.
The chain has restaurants in Leeds, Newcastle, Birmingham, Sheffield, Doncaster and Brighton but Derby will be its largest, seating between 350 and 400 people and employing 35 to 40 staff.
It comes in the same week as Go-Ji Restaurants started a £1m conversion of the former Magistrates' Court in Bold Lane into another Chinese buffet restaurant.
St Werburgh's Church is in a key location in the city at the bottom of Friar Gate and near the Cathedral Quarter.
Wokmania said it was the unusual building which attracted it to Derby. A spokesman said: "Our others are all in more conventional restaurant buildings."
The company had hoped to open the restaurant in April but it has been delayed until the end of September or early October after dry rot was found in the roof.
City property expert Russell Rigby said the location of St Werburgh's meant Wokmania should do well.
"It is right on the axis between Sadler Gate and the start of Friar Gate and it is a big building so it has potential to become one of the best known and most popular spots at nighttime in the city."
The church tower dates back to 1610, the Baroque chancel to 1699 and the remainder was built in the 1890s by Sir Arthur Blomfield.
The building was sold by the Church of England in 1989 and the following year Dutch businessman Theo Bosman spent £500,000 turning it into a shopping arcade.
The arcade did not succeed and has been closed since early 1995.
City architect Derek Latham purchased St Werburgh's from receivers in 2003. In 2004 a planning application was submitted to convert the building into a brasserie.
Mr Latham said: "I couldn't turn the church into a pub or nightclub so we came up with an agreement to change it into an establishment with controlled drinking.
"We went ahead with the plans and there was a lot of interest but Wokmania sounded exactly like the right kind of company."
The Wokmania restaurant will also be close to the site of the new Go-Ji Restaurant, in Bold Lane.
The Go-Ji company only started up in October but is aiming to have eight restaurants by the end of the year.
Director of the Rugby-based firm, Andrew Osborne, said Derby's restaurant would be ready in 12 weeks and would employ about 20 people.
"We aim to be different to other Chinese restaurants because we do not use salt or sugar in our food, or monosodium glutamate," he said.
The 234-year-old building was bought by Menta Developments in 2003. The company had originally hoped to let it for a comedy club.
John Cadwallader, chief executive of urban regeneration company Derby Cityscape, said he was delighted the two restaurants were coming to Derby.
"I am glad they will be opening sooner rather than later because if buildings stand empty too long people start thinking there is no answer and there is always a positive answer."
Article courtesy of Derby Evening Telegraph