Rozelle ‘ could be Station Hotel 2’
Ayr faces a ghastly sequel to the Station Hotel crisis.
An audience of the town’s great and good were told: “Watch out or Rozelle House and the Maclaurin Galleries will become Station Hotel 2.”
An estimated £ 375,000 is needed to fix the A- listed mansion. The bill has soared £ 200,000 in just three years.
The external fabric has not been touched in 20 years. Gutters are rusting, ornate stonework is crumbling and windows are rotting.
Celia Stevenson, vicechairman of the Maclaurin Trust, stunned VIPs by delivering the warning at the opening of the gallery’s 25th art exhibition in aid of Save the Children.
She said: “It is very sad as unless something gets done it is going to turn into another Station Hotel or Belleisle House.
“Rozelle was left for the good of the people of Ayr by the Hamilton family.
“We are very worried about the safety of the building and it looks awful.
“All work is on hold and we need help to ensure this cannot be allowed to continue. It is all a desperate mess.”
The house and 91- acre estate were home to the Hamilton family, sugar and tobacco barons with plantations in the West Indies.
The David Elder Edwards Trust was lined up to help fund £ 175,000 worth of repairs.
Three years later, without a trowel being dipped in mortar, the work is estimated to cost £ 375,000.
The estate was gifted to the Royal Burgh of Ayr in 1968.
Between 1975- 76 the servant’s quarters and stable block were converted into the Maclaurin Galleries with funds from the bequest of Mary Ellen Maclaurin.
Maclaurin trustees now run the full exhibition programme .
Celia Stevenson said: “Our volunteers do so much to keep things running as council staff have been cut to the bone.
“Everyone seems keen to attract more visitors but you actually have to have a standard of place where people want to visit.”
A council spokesman said: “It is completely inaccurate to compare Rozelle House, which is owned by the Common Good, to the building adjacent to Ayr train station, where the council is progressing works in line with its statutory duty to public safety.
“Rozelle House plays an important part in our arts and culture programme in South Ayrshire and we recently carried out a detailed survey to identify all necessary repairs to the render and stonework on the building.
“We are currently discussing the survey findings with the David Elder Edward Trust and the next steps to move forward.”