Pledge to save Station Hotel Labour councillor makes election pledge to protect crumbling building from ruin
A politician has bravely vowed to rescue Ayr’s most shameful building before it is demolished.
The crumbling Station Hotel has blighted the entrance to the town via Holmston since its closure.
Now Councillor Brian McGinley has had enough and demands the embarrassing pile be brought back to life.
He said: “The Station Hotel is dilapidated and uncared for. It is such a dominant feature at the entrance to the town.
“If we can’t give a welcome entry to Ayr then people won’t be encouraged to stay and visit. It has the potential to be an iconic building but it has been left to go to wrack and ruin. If I don’t do something, nobody else will. If nothing is done it will end up demolished.”
Councillor McGinley, who is vying to be local Labour leader as May’s council election approaches, urged Ayr Renaissance to step in and help rescue the building.
One of his suggestions is to reopen it as a hotel and conference centre with a bar - modelled on the Central Hotel in Glasgow.
He said: “We need to make the top of the town immediately welcoming.
“My vow is to make sure it is invested in. It should be a hub of Ayr life. The hotel has a place in local history and we are letting it go.
“It is a complex issue. But I will make it my number one priority for Ayr. It needs refurbished.”
A huge bottleneck to council influence is the Station Hotel is in private ownership - keeping the property out of arms reach of town planners.
Praising refurbishment work done on a pub across the road, Councillor McGinley said: “I applaud the work done on the Market Inn, which is also a good Victorian building. It helps the ambience of the town.”
Meanwhile, its once grand neighbour the Station Hotel has had a dangerous building notice slapped on it by the council.
And Network Rail were forced to carry out lifeline repairs on the property to safeguard the town’s train station.
The hotel has been closed since 2013 and has become increasingly rundown with bushes sprouting from its crevices and decorative ironwork reportedly hanging off.
Malaysian businessman Eng Huat Ung bought the building, built in 1885, for £ 750,000 in 2010.