A major update on the fate of Ayr’s fire-scarred Station Hotel building has revealed that much more demolition work is required than previously thought.
The remaining tower and half of the northern section of the building are scheduled to be demolished as part of ongoing safety improvements.
The repair is planned to take nine weeks and should be completed by June 17, 2024.
The decision came after a series of structural inspections of the tower and northern portion of the structure.
certain assessments revealed substantial fire damage to supporting structural elements, indicating that certain parts of the structure cannot continue without posing a serious risk to public safety.
South Ayrshire Council’s Building Standards team will now direct contractors to continue their safety work on the north side of the building, expanding the use of powers under Section 29 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 to protect the public and associated infrastructure.
The walls on the trackside of the building will still need to be removed by hand to preserve the railway, but machinery will be employed on the Smith Street side to speed up the process.
Councillor Martin Dowey, head of South Ayrshire Council, stated, “I am relieved we now have a path forward. Given the enormity of the devastation in the northern region, we must prioritise public safety. This requires the removal of the tower and half of the building’s northern part.
“I understand that this has been a frustrating time for rail users and the travelling public, and it has always been our priority to work with partners, Network Rail and ScotRail, to reopen the station as soon as possible.” With the majority of the brickwork removed, our safety work will be completed, and our partners will be free to move on with the train station’s reopening.
Simon Constable, operations director for Network Rail Scotland, added: “As soon as it is safe to do so, our engineers will inspect our infrastructure for any damage caused by the fire, and we will reopen the railway as soon as possible for our customers.”
David Lister, ScotRail’s safety and sustainability director, stated: “ScotRail welcomes the news that we now have a timeframe for South Ayrshire Council completing the work, and it will bring us a step closer to restoring services for customers.
“When the structures are safe and Network Rail has inspected the railway lines as safe to operate on, we will be able to begin the process of reintroducing our trains to the route. Until then, we’ll do everything we can to keep clients moving, including supplying buses for the Scottish Grand National next weekend.
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