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Hotel demolition a sad loss for Manx capital, says historian
The Mannin Hotel in Douglas is being demolished. Historian Peter Kelly says the loss of the building is a cause for regret
A LOCAL historian has blamed what he perceives as a lack of will power on the part of the developer for the imminent loss of another of the capital’s historic buildings.
Peter Kelly, case worker with the island’s Victorian Society, said the loss of the Mannin Hotel, despite it’s having been a registered building, was unnecessary and a cause for regret.
Built in the 1880s, the Mannin Hotel represented a stage in the evolution of hotel style and design in that era, Mr Kelly said.
‘It shows the onward development in hotel design from Loch Promenade, which was built in the 1870s. It’s a period piece and part of the progression to the Palace Terrace of the 1900s, It is iconic of its period,’ he said.
Because the hotel was a registered building Mr Kelly said the original plan had been to retain the facade, reinforcing it with a steel structure before the rest of the building was demolished behind it.
‘But then there was a fresh application to pull all of it down and rebuild,’ he said.
He added the same thing had happened in recent years with the former Riley’s building at Quine’s corner.
‘When it is a registered building there is an onus on the owner to keep it in a good state of repair,’ he said.
‘But it is up to the DoI to make sure that happens.’
Even in the case of a very dilapidated building he said it was usually possible to save the facade if there was the inclination.
‘In Douglas itself there are many good examples. What was Bushy’s building for example is a good example where a steel framework was put in. Opposite the town hall what used to be the Ridgeway Hotel and is now Simcocks and up above the Palace Hotel is the Falcon Cliff. That building had been on fire and there was all sorts of damage done to it, so it can be done.’
One of the most notable examples is perhaps the former Central Hotel right next door to the Mannin on the corner of Broadway, where once again developers succeeded in preserving the building’s outward appearance.
At one time he said the building housed the Marina branch of the Isle of Man bank where hotel and boarding house owners banked their takings and the cups for the Guild were stored in the strongroom.
‘Gradually the character of Douglas is being lost. Where there’s a will to save a building there’s a way, as the other examples show,’ he said.
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Weather for Isle of Man
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
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Temperature: 8 C to 14 C
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Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
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