AYR Station Hotel is under threat of demolition, writes Hugh Dougherty.
The hotel was built by the Glasgow & South Western Railway in a French Renaissance design as an integral part of Ayr station.
The 1885 Grade II-listed structure has been empty since it was sold to a Malaysian businessman for £750,000 in 2010, and has now been placed on the Scottish Buildings at Risk register.
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The condition of the hotel is so poor Network Rail has been forced to erect scaffolding and secure parts of the building, which it does not own, to ensure the safety of trains, passengers and staff on the platforms and station entrance below.
South Ayrshire Council estimates £10million is needed urgently, just to make the building safe, with millions more being necessary to make it fit for other purposes such as offices.
The hotel was one of three built and owned by the G&SWR, and operated after 1923 by the LMS. It was sold by the British Transport Commission in 1951.
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