As a West Scotland resident, all this news does is reinforce my immensely cynical view on the subject of 'abandoned/disused historic building gets repurposed/refurbished' and I make no apologies for that. Any perfectly rational explanation I'd begrudgingly accept, but with how often this has happened in this region of Scotland, can you really blame me for my cynicism?
For every such success story, there are at least a dozen more of historic buildings meeting fates similar to that of Ayr Hotel: abandoned and left to rot, bought by a ambitious new owner with grand plans for a rebirth or repurposing which inevitably stalls one way or the other, the council/local authority gets involved, a legal battle ensures and the building in the middle continues to deteriorate until some 'timely intervention' necessitates it's demolition and ultimate replacement.
The one and only thing that even remotely surprises me is that it took so long for something like this to happen, regardless of how it actually happened (just look at the state the building was left to get into). This is far from the first abandoned/disused building in the west of Scotland to go up in smoke (I could name several in the last few years alone) and it won't be the last.
Quite honestly, I'm surprised the Egyptian Halls in central Glasgow - not a railway related structure, but it's directly across the street from Glasgow Central, so it's at least relevent by proximity - hasn't gone the same way. Though if anything there were to go up, it would be that wretched scaffolding/hoarding covering the frontage on Union St that's been there for at least 14-15 years now.
Given the legal complications surrounding this building (CPOs, owner not being a UK resident et al), this fire may well drag this pathetic saga out even further rather than expediting something,
anything, actually being done. And in the meantime, passengers will have to continue to circimnavigate that convoluted entrance/exit in and out of a sad, disheveled shell of a station with the husk of the railways' past importance looming over them. They, and Ayr as a whole, deserve much better than the utter shambles all parties involved have left them with.
No doubt, since the owner isn't likely to set foot on UK soil anytime soon, the public purse will be footing the bill for whatever is done. Which in situations like this, is about as surprising as the Sun setting in the West every evening.
Just wait - followings site clearance, there’ll be a Portacabin in the car park and bus shelters on the platforms, and that’ll last 30+ years. As I recall, the council were talking of making the station forecourt a ‘transport hub’.
Just like at Dalmuir (I know there was no fire there, but still). Honestly surprised that anything at all was built to replace most of them and I was even more surprised that a event horizon didn't occur shortly afterwards.