Bulldozers tumbling landmark Larne pubs ahead of new hotel work

The century-old Dan Campbell’s and The Thatch buildings at Bridge Street are being bulldozed to make way for the new £3.2m Inver River Hotel which is expected to open in spring 2022.

Construction work is scheduled to get underway in February.

The 24-bedroom four-star hotel is being developed by Kenny Bruce, Stephen Ashe, Mervyn McKay and Raymond Robinson, directors of MBA Inver Investments on the site and extending into Point Street.

The hotel development will create 38 new jobs within the town and is intended to bring “much needed regeneration and investment to the Riverdale area”.

Businessman Kenny Bruce MBE, co-founder of Purplebricks and owner of Larne FC, has said: “Our vision for the Inver River Hotel is to create a stylish, four-star hotel that will be a bright light for hospitality in Larne.

“Despite the challenges to the hospitality industry due to the Covid-19 crisis, the directors are confident that the planned opening of the hotel in early

2022 will coincide with a strong resurgence of the tourism sector in Northern Ireland and beyond.

“We are grateful to Anne Donaghy, chief executive of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and her leadership team for their support throughout this process. We look forward to continuing to work with council to see further transformation in Larne.”

The council’s chief executive said “I welcome the investment and development of a new high-spec hotel in Larne. This will form a key part of Council’s strategic tourism offering as the gateway to the Glens and will create much-needed local jobs.

“I congratulate the vision of the investors and endorse the way in which they are contributing to the future of Larne.

“The Inver River Hotel will add significantly to the work already undertaken in the Inver River area of the town, and I have no doubt other investors will see the success of this hotel and be encouraged to come to our town. It is a privilege of Council to work alongside these investors to support them to create the next part of Larne’s journey in tourism.”

Meanwhile, a second new east Antrim hotel is being planned in Glenarm.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has reported that a four-star hotel is part of regeneration projects for Glenarm following the agreed sale of council-owned sites in the village.

In Glenarm, a distillery, state-of-the-art visitor experience and community hub are further elements of the development plans after permission was granted for the sale of the former quarry, fish factory and Eglinton yard sites.

Dan Campbell’s was built in 1903 by James Ferris and traded as a haberdasher’s and later as a bar, restaurant and guesthouse in the 1990s.

The four-storey corner property failed to reach an asking price of £70,000 at public auction in March 2018. Previously, the building had an asking price of £150,000.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter.

Click here to read: New Larne hotel team aims for early 2022 opening with almost 40 new jobs

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