JD Wetherspoon (JDW) is set to start developing on a Leeds pub, spending £1.8m and creating about 60 jobs in the process. The Stick or Twist in Merrion Way first opened in 1997 but was demolished to create a new unit with student accommodation above. The pub group will start building work on 5 April with the site expected to reopen in the summer (6 July). As part of the refurbishment, the open kitchen will be double its original size and the overall site will be 25% bigger than the original and offer 4,000sq ft of customer space on one level. It will also have outside terraces to the front and side of the building with bifold doors opening onto it from the pub.