“You can already imagine developers looking at the site and thinking - we could make a fortune from flats built there.”
10:47am Wednesday 2nd May 2012 in Skipper
Anyone watching as one of Falmouth’s landmark hotels burnt to the ground this week must have felt devastated by the events unfolding before their eyes.
For a start, the Falmouth Beach Hotel was a much loved landmark that has played a part in most of the town’s residents’ lives over the past years.
Whether it was a venue for a Christmas party or a wedding reception, or it provided a first job as a chambermaid, barman or waiter, many of us will have some form of direct link to the building.
Even for those without, its location overlooking the town’s premier beach meant it played an important subconscious role in all our lives.
Therefore, the images of it being destroyed in such a ferocious fire have sent shockwaves throughout Falmouth and further afield.
However, we must not allow ourselves to be distracted from the most important issue that will surround the hotel now - what will become of the site in the future?
Understandably, it is too soon for the owners to give a definitive statement on where they go next.
It is clear the building, which was 90 per cent destroyed in the conflagration, will have to be torn down.
What is built in its place will be of immense importance to the town.
To put it bluntly, it must remain as a hotel.
Falmouth is beginning to earn a stronger and stronger reputation as one of Cornwall’s premier tourist destinations, but to lose 120 premier bedrooms from the town would be a real long-term blow. You can already imagine developers looking at the site and thinking - we could make a fortune from flats built there.
It must not be allowed to happen.
This week’s fire was a real shock to the whole of Falmouth, which has left the majority of residents reeling.
Lets ensure it does not become a long-lasting blow to the very future of the town, by making sure a replacement hotel is built on the site.
tyrionb says...
6:12pm Tue 8 May 12