Blaze Endangers Plan For Courthouse Hotel

Just hours before a new five-star hotel was due to open its doors in downtown Belfast, a major fire in the north of the city has left a question mark over another imaginative hotel plan.

Fire crews were still on site this morning after the blaze destroyed large parts of the former Crumlin Road Courthouse.

The fire broke out at around 3.30pm on Thursday and last night Fire Brigade Group Commander Brian McClintock told conservation officials at the scene that the rear of the building was badly damaged.

A total of 11 appliances from the city and surrounding district - including two aerial units - were at the scene at the height of the blaze, plus a Command Support Unit, which meant that 55 fire fighters were involved.

He said that the roof had collapsed, the walls were badly damaged and that a section of the famous building may have to come down.

The owner Barry Gilligan thought the fire was started deliberately.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, he said: "There is no power in the building, so accidental fire is not an option."

The courthouse is an historic gem. It is linked to the now closed Crumlin Road Gaol by an underground passage, and was designed by world-famous architect, Sir Charles Lanyon and completed in 1850.

It was finally closed in 1998 and later sold to local developer Mr Gilligan, who suggested the building had been torched: "It seems to me the only option is that the fire has been deliberately set.

"Certainly I have had some instances in the past where there has been vandalism and criminal damage, but this is way beyond what has happened before.

"The hopes of an entire community are there, I have worked with the community in trying to bring this very important building back to life, and in doing so could create jobs.

"I am still determined to do that, but I would appeal to the community that if they have any knowledge as to how this fire was started they should pass that on to the PSNI," he said.

As doubts over the viability of the entrepreneur's courthouse hotel scheme lingered today, the 130-room Fitzwilliam Hotel - situated adjacent to the Grand Opera House on Great Victoria Street - was opening.

It has created approximately 100 new jobs and represents an investment of about £30m. It is owned by local woman, June Burgess of Graffan Properties.

However, following 'boom time' room occupancy levels in Northern Ireland - which has seen unprecedented growth as the peace process and an associated increase in the number of conferences being held in Belfast, there are now signs it is faltering.

The Fitzwilliam Hotel's opening comes in the same week it was reported Northern Ireland's much documented hotel boom appears to have come to an end.

According to a new report, the overall figure for people staying in hotels dropped by nearly 7% in 2008.

However, the PricewaterhouseCoopers study said the fall, which was the first since 2002, was in line with a UK-wide downturn.

See: Historic Belfast Jail Opens Its Doors Again

(BMcC)