THE former Auction Rooms in Alton's Market Square, due to be turned into a continental style cafe bar, has applied for an entertainment licence to stage music and dancing until midnight, seven days a week.
The premises, which will be known as Cafe Central if the deal goes through, already has outline planning permission, but business and alcohol licences are also yet to be confirmed.
The company making the proposal is the Chapman Group of Worthing, which owns a small chain of restaurants, bars and hotels throughout the south of England.
One Cafe Central already exists in Worthing, and the Chapman Group believes the Cafe Central formula would fit well into Alton.
Bruce Carter, licensing manager of the Chapman Group, said: "We are looking to lease the property, but the deal is at a purely negotiational stage. We are looking to attract more families and the business generation, with our emphasis heavily on food."
Chris Glanfield of Glanfield Holmund, the letting agents dealing with the property, said: "I am wholly supportive of the plans for Cafe Central, this is exactly the kind of thing we should be encouraging, bringing vibrancy and activity into the centre of Alton.
"A place like this might stop the youngsters leaving Alton when they go out, and going to places like Farnham, Basingstoke and Guildford."
The plans may have some opposition though, as the proposed cafe bar would be built directly underneath Ladyplace Court, a residential development designed for the elderly.
John Waugh of Hamptons International, the letting agents for the owners of the retirement development, said: "The prices of the properties above reflected the fact that there was some doubt as to exactly what would happen to the premises below, and at no time was anyone kept in the dark about the possibilities.
"The proposed bar will have to conform to noise pollution regulations, so we are confident that there will not be a problem."
Mr Carter said, "The application for an entertainment licence until midnight does not mean that Cafe Central would be a nightclub. The entertainment in question would be mostly background music with occasional singing and dancing.
"The reason that we have applied for the licence so far in advance, is that the application for an entertainment licence takes longer to process than the other types of license required.
"We don't see the entertainment proposed causing a problem for the residents upstairs, but we make a point of having meetings with local residents before any decisions are made."
The environmental health department of East Hampshire District Council will announce its decision on the application on Thursday June 14.