The former chair of Ayr’s Station Hotel Action Group has urged authorities not to demolish the iconic building.
Esther Clark, who recently resigned from the group and is now chair of Ayr Development Trust, spoke out after the weekend’s fire in the hotel.
Two teenage boys have been charged with alleged fire raising and are set to appear in court.
Ms Clark believes the best solution would be to join forces with Save Britain’s Heritage to rescue and transform the building and then hand it over to a community-run group.
She told the Advertiser: “Demolition is being suggested – as usual – because the hotel is dangerous. Demolition is also dangerous and would take forever as each large sandstone block is separate, I believe.
“There is a £6.6million estimate for demolition of the south wing only – not where the fire was.
“Demolition is anti environment because it would pollute the area with dust, so it has a health impact. It would undermine Burns Square and the whole Ayr townscape. We have enough gaps in the town."
The hotel was issued with a Dangerous Building Notice in 2018 after it was deemed unsafe. There were fears it could collapse unless a solution was found.
A feasibility study commissioned by Transport Scotland, but also on behalf of South Ayrshire Council, Network Rail and ScotRail, was published in February 2021, and it was felt by some that the study was leaning towards demolition of the building, suggesting that retaining it would prove too expensive.
Ms Clark said: “A new glass and steel station was estimated at £20million five years ago and demolition of the whole hotel at £2-4million. So that’s £24million when conservation and redevelopment was estimated at £20million."
She claimed: “There is a smokescreen around who is behind this.
“Unfortunately, over many administrations, South Ayrshire Council has not stood up to Network Rail and neither has the Scottish Government.
“The solution is full co-operation with Save Britain’s Heritage, which is already working on all this at Ayr Station Hotel.
“When it has finished its work, a local trust would take over.
“Ayr Development Trust is legally accredited to take on the hotel and I daresay would be prepared to consider it if no other trust came good.
“It is up to the community to decide what the trust should look like.
“Ayr Development Trust members are not keen to lose the Station Hotel and no action would be required for some time anyway.
“It is certainly food for thought.”
A spokesperson for South Ayrshire Council said: "We would like to thank the emergency services for their speedy response and we’re glad that nobody was injured.
"The council made a decision in December 2022 to demolish the southern section of the privately owned building and we’re working with our partners to achieve this and find a long-term solution for the site."
A spokesperson for Network Rail told the Advertiser: "We are continuing to provide financial support to keep the building secure and maintain rail services for Ayr and the wider community.
"In addition, we’re working closely with South Ayrshire Council, ScotRail, Transport Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland to examine options as part of the Ayr station strategic governance group.
"South Ayrshire Council is leading this process and an options review report is being produced setting out the next steps for the hotel."
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