Station Hotel Ayr: Fire raises new demolition concerns

It was built to host holidaymakers from Glasgow, with the French chef of the St Enoch hotel on the other end of line re-locating to the Ayrshire coast.

Once one of the most grand hotels in Scotland, it closed in 2013 - ostensibly for refurbishment - and has never re-opened.

In that same year a dangerous building notice was issued by South Ayrshire Council, with Network Rail - which owns the ground floor of the north wing - erecting netting and crash decks.

Read More: Two teenagers arrested over hotel fire that shut Ayr train line

A second notice was issued in 2018 to the owner of the hotel, due to falling debris.

The council has installed safety measures at a cost of £60,000 per month to prevent the Grade B listed building being a risk to the public.

Its owner, a Malaysian businessman named Eng Huat Ung who took over in 2010, could not be contacted for comment.

With the fate of the building seemingly caught between South Ayrshire Council, Mr Ung and Network Rail, campaigners fear the historic hostelry could be demolished altogether, especially once damage from the most recent fire is assessed.

Robin Ghosh is an architect whose firm, Econstruct Design and Build, was behind the renovation of the historic Seafield house in the town, which had previously been earmarked for demolition.

He's convinced that the hotel can be saved - but only if a way can be found for stakeholders to work together.

Mr Ghosh told The Herald: "I spent a fair amount of time outwith the business discussing various options for it

“To me the most obvious one was the council. The council were in a building across the road which had reached the end of its life.

“They were looking at a new site to build a new council block at the bottom of Ayr High Street. My view was that they should be looking at a sustainability approach, looking at existing buildings which could be converted to cater to the council’s needs rather than creating a new build.

“So I fought to have the Station Hotel put in a consultation paper that would at least allow it to be assessed as one of the suitable buildings.

“I did some floor plans and some sketches just to try and plant the seed that this building really should be in the running because it was coming out at exactly the same floor space, give or take, as the new office.

“I’d also been involved in the Johnnie Walker Bond in Kilmarnock which was a conversion of old warehouses in the centre of Kilmarnock for council offices.

“That was a fantastic success story. That was a derelict old building, and to be fair East Ayrshire Council really wanted to make it work.

“It was a very narrow building, with uneven floors, but it worked well as office space. It also brought an influx of staff, maybe about 1,000 of them, in that building using the town centre every day.

Read More: Passengers evacuated from Scots train station due to nearby fire

“That was a fantastic economic boost for the town centre and that was the same model I had for the Station Hotel: take all the outlying offices into the town and really kickstart regeneration a the top of end of Ayr town centre.

“I did some modelling but it all fell on deaf ears. The council’s vision was to have this new build at the top of the town. They went ahead with that, put a planning application in, spent a fortune having external consultants design it and put the application in and the council refused their own application.

“So the council offices never happened, that just died a death."

Various proposals have been suggested to try and get the building into use again, ranging from re-opening as a hotel, an art gallery, a function space or a combination of the above.

However, the Station Hotel has been left in a Catch-22 situation whereby its owners won't spend the money to improve it without an end user and South Ayrshire Council will commit only to making the building safe to the general public without Mr Ung investing in the site.

A compulsory purchase order would be dependent on "whether the existing building can be restored or whether its condition necessitates the redevelopment of the site".

Mr Ghosh said: "It requires huge partnership working and quite dynamic thinking.

“The reason so many buildings are being lost is that it’s easy to follow the structural engineers', quantity surveyors', reports that the building is structurally unsafe and financially unviable.

“But Seafield was deemed that as well and we’ve shown we can make it work.

“Structural engineers have to form an opinion about the structural integrity of these old buildings, and everyone is scared because there are so many unknowns.

“It takes a brave structural engineer to say, ‘this building could be saved’ because it’s their public indemnity, their credibility, that’s at risk.

“It’s probably easier to justify a building being past structural and financial restoration, and that’s why so many are deemed fit for demolition.

“Once these buildings are gone, they’re gone. Key iconic buildings like Seafield and the Station Hotel have to be saved, because if we don’t what’s the future environment going to be like?

"These buildings were built with pride, with skill, back in the day and are huge landmark buildings. The hotel is part of what Ayr was built around, it was a day trip seaside down and when people came down on the train the first thing they would see or experience was the Station Hotel.

"The council’s view could be considered to be slightly biased because they’ve got a huge financial outlay on it every month and that’s an easy route for them to cut that financial loss if the building is demolished. Is it the right thing for the building? Certainly not. But is it the right thing for the council? Probably.

“My main concern about the fire is that any negative thing that happens to this building is fuelling the demolition.

“I don’t know the extent of the fire but if the council re-assess this it’s probably going to be re-assessed as worse than it originally was and therefore there’s a stronger case for demolition.

“Having experience and credibility in restoring old buildings like this I still don’t think it’s past the point of repair, I just think an end user is needed and a positive out-of-the-box sustainable approach from the council.

“Up until now with South Ayrshire Council I’d probably say I don’t have any faith but with Mike Newall (depute chief executive and director of housing) involved I do see a glimpse of hope.

“For me it’s disappointing that there have been potential solutions in the past and they’ve fallen on deaf ears, and as time progresses the building naturally deteriorates.

“Unfortunately I don’t think the councils can be the drivers in this because they don’t seem to want to be pro-active, and I think a lot of people in the council probably get nervous about it.

“Unless people like myself come forward with potential solutions the building won’t be here.

“I don’t think the building needs to be demolished, I just think there’s a lack of enthusiasm in the local authority to find a solution.

"It’s just so sad, when you look at the architecture and some of the old archive pictures it’s a fantastic building.

“To even think of demolishing it is so sad."

A spokesperson for South Ayrshire Council said: "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.

"Our primary role is to protect the public from this dangerous building, the scaffolding and the encapsulation works do exactly that.

"Given the condition of the southern section it has been decided that demolition is the best course of action. If anyone came forward with a viable alternative to demolition it would be considered.

"The Council has tried to engage with the owner over many years to find a solution, but to no avail."