A mystery buyer has paid more than £1.2m at an auction for Castle Mona Hotel in Douglas, but what are they planning to do with it?

The Examiner spoke to residents about their memories of the historic building, built in 1804, which has been used as a residence by the fourth Duke of Atholl and a hotel. The building, by then owned by the Sefton Group, was shut in 2006.

Members of the public shared their thoughts on what the building should become.

’It should be something for kids,’ said Kate Ronan, 28, from Castletown. ’Something like the bowling alley because you have to go all the way up to Ramsey, which isn’t incredibly far but it would be easier for some people to get too.

’They’re doing a lot of things for parks, like the Splash Zone at Noble’s Park. It would be good to have somewhere for kids to go on a rainy day, like an arcade or maybe a roller skating rink.

’It’s an impressive building that should be used, but not for flats or offices. That’s all we’ve got all along the promenade.’

Bob Haddow, aged 71, from Douglas, said: ’It should be turned into a car park.

’They should pull the building down. What’s the point of buying a derelict building?

’Some of the landlords here are a disgrace. They don’t put any value in the property until they get to sell it.’

His wife Linda, aged 69, said: ’I think it should be turned into a living space, but it’s up to the owners what they do with it.

’It would be nice if they could keep it, but it needs to be done properly. We’ve got so many hotels already in the island, so I think it should be turned into flats.’

Bob asked: ’But what about during TT when people are opening up their houses to visitors?’

Douglas resident Blagoy Smilyamov, 29, said: ’Maybe it could be a hotel with a nice garden and a restaurant so you can sit outside and have lunch or dinner. For example, today with the sunshine it would be full of people.

’There aren’t many places in the island where we can sit outside when it’s a sunny day.’

Lily Smilyamov, also aged 29, agreed, adding: ’There’s only one bowling alley and it’s in Ramsey. It would be nice as a place for young people to spend time together.’

Castletown resident Kevin Holder, 49, said: ’"The office" I think it was called in 2002 or 2003 and I remember there being a bowling alley.

’I think maybe keep the shell, so use the outside of the building but completely refurbish the inside.

’An idea would be to turn it into an apartment block.’

Karl Watscher, a 51-year-old from Austria, has lived in the island on and off for around six years.

He said: ’It had just closed when I arrived to the island. I think it used to have a discothèque.

’I’m visiting at the moment and saw that it’s still unused. The mystery buyer is interesting, I’m just wondering what’s happening. It’s all very strange.’

’I think it should be used as a hotel. It’s so long unused and it’s a waste of possibility. There are a few really nice high class hotels around the island, so this could become a four or a five star hotel.

’If you want to rebuild it might be cheaper and easier to knock it down and start again.’