Bangor Castle hotel plan: Huge extension to double number of bedrooms as council high-ups say they can't guarantee public access will be set down in contracts
A huge extension to a protected public building could be on the cards when it becomes a privately-run hotel, doubling the number of bedrooms it can offer – while officials say they can’t guarantee public access will be written into legal contracts with the business operator.
Ards and North Down Council chief executive Susie McCullough told the News Letter that although she was “almost 100% certain” conditions allowing the public into Bangor Castle’s grounds and building would be included in long-term leases with hotel operators, she couldn’t guarantee they will definitely appear as the contracts have yet to be negotiated or written.
But she insisted public access to the building would be maintained through having the castle’s historic music chamber become a bar or restaurant, repeatedly pointing to a similar use of Harland and Wolff’s Victorian drawing offices in Belfast’s Titanic Hotel.
Meanwhile a large extension covering the western lawn of the castle grounds could be on the cards, which would allow a boutique hotel that takes over the grade A listed building to double the number of bedrooms available to paying guests – specifically, 21 rooms in the original castle and 22 in the extension.
Two options for a hotel on the site are currently being considered by the council, one with the extension and one without.
During a tour of the building today, the chief executive plus area Mayor Gillian McCollum said the western lawn, running close to much-loved Castle Park, is rarely visited by members of the public.
Main views of Bangor Castle are to the north and east, and council high-ups said the extension wouldn’t be visible from those angles.
Built by the Ward family of Irish nobility, the castle was bought by the council in the 1940s and has acted as its headquarters for over 70 years.
But the local authority wants out, and is eyeing a planned development in the centre of the Co Down city as a new home for 400-plus office staff currently scattered around multiple buildings in Bangor and Newtownards.
That will either be in a long-delayed £60m rebuild of Queen’s Parade on Bangor’s seafront, or in the city’s derelict Flagship Shopping Centre, which went out of business in 2019. The chief executive confirmed officials are currently trying to convince the Department of Education to locate its new HQ in the same building as the council’s.
The castle tour showed that it is far from perfect for modern office work; cramped, lacking proper disabled access and with damp problems in some areas, Ms McCullough said the council would have to spend large amounts of money both revamping it and on upkeep.
Ideas of turning the landmark into a museum or community centre were ruled out as they’d involve spending millions on an overhaul, and were projected to lose the council a six-figure sum every year.
A boutique hotel and wedding venue, however, would put the council in profit in the long run.
According to Ms McCullough, repurposing the castle would also bring jobs to an area that’s heavy with commuters who work in Belfast.
“Around 14% of jobs in the city are in tourism and hospitality,” she said, “but consultants have identified that we’re seen as a day-tripper destination and we lack hotel accommodation.”