Council cost
The cost of repairing burntout Belleisle Hotel will fall to South Ayrshire Council.
Local authority chiefs will be left picking up the tab for yet another building they do not own, it has been revealed.
The cost of repairing burntout Belleisle Hotel will fall to South Ayrshire Council.
Local authority chiefs will be left picking up the tab for yet another building they do not own, it has been revealed.
It follows an admission from the hotel’s current owner John Campbell that he does not have the funds to carry out emergency works on the shell.
We told earlier this month how council bosses were still hoping to purchase the wreck after engaging in buyout talks prior to the blaze.
It is understood a figure of £ 250,000 had been discussed before the inferno ripped through the former mansion house.
Workmen have been bidding to stabilise unsafe stonework in the building since the fire.
But it has been confirmed the cost of all works moving forward will be met by the public purse.
A council spokesman said: “Work is still ongoing to ensure the building is safe and preserved as far as possible and presents no danger to the public and other users of Belleisle Park.
“The current owner has advised that they have no funds available to carry out any of the emergency works required and the council will therefore require to undertake this work to ensure public safety and then recover these costs in due course from the current hotel owner.
“The hotel still remains in private ownership, although it is still the council’s intention to reacquire this property.”
Police ruled out any criminal element after the blaze which gutted the building.