Boutique hotels have been en vogue for a number of years now. Filled with character, the quirky getaway venues have been springing up in all manner of formerly disused buildings including churches, prisons, mills, stately homes and manor houses…
Whether there would be interest in staying at the site of a former police station is perhaps another thing.
However, one Newry and Armagh MLA is curious as to whether this notion would hold any merit… the only issue is the earmarked site remains fully operational, with police staff still stationed within on a daily basis!
The current Ardmore Station site on the Belfast Road caught the attention of SDLP representative, Justin McNulty, who asked the Minister of Justice whether any assessment has been carried out on the merits of returning Ardmore Police Station to its original use as a hotel.
In 2022, Banbridge man Stephen Campbell had a similar concept and envisaged his own plan to redevelop a long vacant Banbridge barracks into a guesthouse.
The property – at Church Street in the town – was listed for sale the year prior with a guide price of £150,000.
However, having been originally constructed around 1860, the building was Grade B1 listed and came replete with an abundance of Georgian-style charm… the idea to renovate the space into a guesthouse wasn’t all that dissimilar to ABC Council’s former concept for Armagh Gaol.
Related: Former Banbridge police station with ‘development potential’ up for sale
According to IrishShowbands.com, the Newry site was indeed previously occupied by Ardmore Hotel – also known as Ardmore House – a popular venue among showbands in the 1960s and 70s.
Favoured by more than just showbands and their fans, the premises also played host to countless weddings, meetings, birthdays and anniversaries over the years.
It was a bright and character-filled building sitting among lush green landscape, that according to Ordnance Survey maps, may also have had a large pond to the left hand side of the gardens well into the late 1980s.
Though little historical information can be found online about the Ardmore Hotel, the same showband website explains that it was sadly targeted by a Troubles-related bomb blast in 1979.
At that time it was under the ownership of Fermanagh-based couple, Mr and Mrs Scallon.
Following the devastating attack, a portion of the building was demolished and the building’s contents were put up for sale in Newry town hall.
The hotel was then abandoned and the site lay derelict for almost a decade before the RUC built a new police headquarters on site.
While the expansive building was developed to be a more modern station than some of its predecessors, it’s very much function over form.
With high brick walls acting as fortification from the main road, imposing gates and box-like construction, it’s not exactly pleasing to the eye.
The PSNI have also confirmed to Armagh I that the station remains “fully operational” and expressed no immediate plans for change.
But, let’s imagine for a second that the Justice Minister sided with the MLA’s vision… would there be a need for another hotel in Newry or a market for one on the grounds of Ardmore station?
We’d be happy to hear your thoughts.
