Bangor Castle: Moves to turn publicly-owned 19th century landmark into private hotel as council owners plot to shift HQ into decades-delayed £50m seaside Queen's Parade project that hasn't started being built yet
A County Down council has unveiled plans that could turn a publicly-owned 19th century castle into a private hotel.
Bangor Castle used to be owned by the aristocratic Ward family, but has been the headquarters of the area’s council since the 1950s.
Also a popular high-end wedding venue, its classic architecture and upper-crust interiors featuring stained-glass windows make it one of the most recognisable civic buildings in the province.
But now the council says it wants out of the Grade A listed site, on Monday (20th) revealing plans to move to a new HQ in a decades-delayed project on Bangor seafront that hasn’t started being built yet.
And that could result in the much-loved castle being leased out to the private sector to become a hotel or a hub for small businesses.
Officials from Ards and North Down Council unveiled five possible visions for the future of the site, and are currently working out which one they want to go for.
They think Bangor Castle could be a:
- Large hotel and events space
- Boutique hotel and events space
- Workspace for small businesses
- Workspace for businesses plus a museum
- “Creative hub” and arts centre
Officials plan to bring their preferred choice to the council for a decision in February.
They also have to work out what to with North Down Museum, which sits in the castle grounds.
Some options would incorporate the museum into the new use for Bangor Castle, but others wouldn’t have room for it.
A council spokesman told the News Letter that officials don’t plan to sell the castle outright, though control and management of the landmark may be ceded to the private sector by leasing it to a third-party operator.
The move comes as the local authority says it wants to ‘rationalise’ its current offices, by moving all of its staff into a single location.
Employees are currently spread around 10 separate buildings in two towns, a legacy of the way things worked in two old district councils that were merged to create Ards and North Down in 2014.
Bangor Castle is by far the largest building the council owns, but it’s not big enough to hold offices for more than 400 members of staff.
Officials say bringing everyone together on a single central site would be a far more efficient way of doing business.
They want to move into offices that are due to be built as part of a long-delayed project to revamp Queen’s Parade on Bangor seafront.
A £50m scheme that has been on the cards since the 1990s, construction work still hasn’t begun on the overhaul.
Council officials say they could alternatively move into the Flagship Centre, a derelict shopping mall on the town’s Main Street.
Opened in the 1990s, the Flagship died a slow death as chain retail pulled out of the centre of Bangor in the wake of 2008’s economic crash, finally shutting its doors in 2019 and going into receivership.
Although a property developer bought the mall in 2021, aiming to revitalise and reopen it, the receivers were called in again last year.
Council chief executive, Susie McCullough, said: “We are committed to finding the best possible outcomes for [Bangor Castle], which will in turn benefit our ratepayers.”