A former Kirkcaldy hotel is set to be pulled down after falling victim to the recession.
There were hopes the Station Hotel could be refurbished as a headquarters and training centre for Kingdom Homes but the company had to withdraw from the project as a result of the country’s depressed economy.
Historic Scotland, who have refused to have it listed, described it as “unexceptional.”
Having lain derelict for three years, the century-old hotel’s options would appear to have run out.
Its owner, Kirkcaldy-born businessman Robert Kilgour who is now based in Monaco, said interest in the site was “close to zero” because of the costs involved in refurbishing an old, non-listed building.
“In the next couple of weeks I’ll be applying for permission to demolish it, ” Mr Kilgour told The Courier this week.
“I know it will not be popular but I have to do what I have to do.”
Mr Kilgour has purchased the building, latterly known as Station Court, twice. He snapped it up in 1987 after it ceased operating as a hotel and refurbished it as the first Four Seasons Health Care home. He left the business in 1999.
After the home was deemed no longer fit for purpose as a modern care home and closed in 2007, he bought the building again and has been trying to find a use for it ever since.Two proposalsHe has submitted and, after public opposition to the plans, withdrawn two separate proposals for housing at Station Court.
In autumn last year, it looked as if a solution had been found when Kingdom Homes was granted planning permission for a care home, including space for headquarters and training facilities.
Mr Kilgour said the plans fell through after Kingdom Homes decided against expanding the business.
He added, “It was a very realistic plan but it only would have worked because Kingdom Homes and Kingdom Construction was a local company which had a use for the building, and the fact there was a construction company within the group meant the construction work would have been a lot cheaper than having to put it out to tender.
“I spent a six-figure sum on architects’ fees, planning fees and looking at various options but the economic climate can take a large part of the blame for this.”
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Chris Harvie launched a scathing attack on Mr Kilgour over the plans.TownscapeHe said, “There’s an auld hoose, ding it doon. The threat to the Station Hotel at Kirkcaldy is that its owner, the developer Robert Kilgour, will not just wreck Kirkcaldy’s most attractive townscape, which ought to be a conservation area, but reflects poorly on the property business’s reaction to the need to redevelop the town centre.
“The hotel, with its fine art-nouveau design by Fife’s leading architect William Williamson (1871-1952), was built in 1903 and was the town’s centre during its years of industrial prosperity.”
Historic Scotland said the building “did not compare well” with other examples of Williamson’s work, such as Burntisland public library and the Royal Bank of Scotland in Kirkcaldy High Street.