[2] After many years of the ground floor being used as snooker hall, the building was bought by a local business-owning couple in 2003 and was transformed at a cost of over £1 million and renamed Newport City Live Arena.

Features included a huge television screen to show live sporting events and a stage that hosted several famous music acts.

The building was sold, redeveloped and opened in February 2016 as a live music and vintage movie venue and named The NEON (Newport Entertains Our Nation).

[4] In 2019, the venue sold out to over 1,000 people for a rally of the Brexit Party,[5] with figures including Nigel Farage, Ann Widdecombe, Nathan Gill and James Wells speaking to supporters ahead of the 2019 European Parliament elections.

In December 2023 the venue was closed and its alcohol sales licence revoked after police identified a large cannabis farm operating in the building.