Mixed emotions as demolition of Stuart Hotel announced

Oct 31 2012 by Andrea O'Neill, East Kilbride News

The East Kilbride community reacted with mixed emotions this week as it was announced the Stuart Hotel is to be demolished.

The once-thriving venue, which holds fond memories for generations of families in the town, is now nothing more than a blight on the landscape of the town centre after being left to rot for more than five years.

Glasgows G1 Group, who own the site, confirmed to the News this week the crumbling East Kilbride landmark is set to be torn down in the new year.

The news was bittersweet for members of East Kilbride Housing Forum, who have long campaigned for the buildings refurbishment.

Chairwoman Margaret McGill said: Im so shocked. We never wanted it to be knocked down. The Stuart Hotel holds a memory for everybody.

The forum has been fighting this for two years. I am happy something is being done, but this is not the outcome we wanted. We would have liked to have seen it restored to its original glory and Im sure the people of East Kilbride feel the same.

Its sad another landmark of our lives is going. Theres not very much left in East Kilbride.

Demolition is set to take place in January to avoid disruption at the town centre during the busy Christmas period.

Central Scotland list MSP Margaret McCulloch has been involved in talks with owner Stefan King since July regarding the buildings future.

Ms McCulloch said: It will be sad to see the Stuart Hotel go as it holds a lot of memories for a lot of people. However, since it closed its doors to the public several years ago it has become dilapidated and I have been contacted by members of the local community expressing concern.

We want to convey a positive image of the town to visitors and we want local people to take pride in their town centre.

Therefore, I am delighted that Stefan King has listened to my concerns and the concerns of the community and agreed to demolish the hotel. Id like to thank him for his time and understanding.

I hope we can now see the site developed for the local community in the not too distant future.

G1 Group were granted planning permission in 2009 to build a brand new, state-of-the-art hotel on the site. The multi-million pound development was to include a nightclub, a gym, two bars, two restaurants and even a landscaped roof terrace on the second floor.

G1 first announced their plans for the site in 2007 and hoped the hotel would be open in August 2008.

The News put several questions to the G1 Group regarding their future plans for the site, and asked why the building had lain empty and boarded up for so long. None of our questions were answered.

G1 Group operations director, David McDowall, said: After a period of extremely productive dialogue between the board at G1 and Margaret McCulloch MSP, a timeline has now been agreed for the demolition of the Stuart Hotel which will commence in January with a view to leaving the site fully demolished with all grounds levelled off 10 weeks after start date. G1 Group would like to thank Margaret McCulloch for her advice and support on this matter.