MANY readers will have partied hard at McMillans in Rougier Street - and, granted, memories might be a bit hazy.
The lively night spot - one of the most popular in York in its heyday - was the place to go if you wanted a Big Night Out.
Press readers recall the venue with mixed feelings.
While Denise Holmes says: "Didn't like it", for Lisa Lee Ledgeway, it changed her life. "Awesome bar good times and memories! I met my hubby there 26 years ago."
We are taking the time machine back a few years to remember McMillans and have dipped into our archives to find some photos of the bar, its staff and customers.
The building is in the news again because its owners Russ Brown and Nip Judson of McMillan York Ltd have struck a deal to turn the venue (which most recently was renamed as The Society Lounge) into the HQ of The Hooting Owl & Curious Cat Distillery. An application for new signage is currently with York planners.
If the scheme goes through it would take the former McMillans site in a new direction.
McMillans first appeared on the York social scene back in 1990 when Russ and Nip took over what was a run down bikers' pub and turned it into a lively, late-night bar with dancing.
In 2004, they invested half a million pounds in the site. It later became The Society Lounge, but this closed during the first lockdown of 2020 and never reopened.
More recently it was home to the Blueberry Academy pop-up shop, selling gifts and homeware.
Now it is set to become the permanent HQ of The Hooting Owl & Curious Cat Distillery which would be both a distillery, making crafted gin and rum, and a bar selling cocktails.
The distillery would be created on the former dancefloor, with a gin palace/speakeasy style bar in the L-shaped space around it. The rooms above would be available for private hire.
The plans mark a reprieve for the former McMillans building which had been earmarked for demolition under the now defunct plans to build a Roman Quarter in Rougier Street.
What are your memories of McMillans? Join the chat in our Facebook nostalgia group, Why We Love York - Memories. Find us at: www.facebook.com/groups/yorknostalgia.
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