Blackpool Promenade hotel reduced to rubble ahead of proposed redevelopment

The St Chad’s Hotel has been demolished after town hall planners approved an application for the work using their delegated powers.

The demolition site includes a block of buildings including the St Chad’s Hotel, the Lyric Hotel, Regency Apartments and the Seaside Fish and Chip Shop between the Promenade, Woodfield Street, St Chad’s Road and Bolton Street.

The Fragrance Group, which owned the St Chad’s Hotel, is expected to submit a planning application later this year to build a new 157-room hotel on the same footprint.

The operator, which also owns The Imperial Hotel in North Shore, wants to redevelop the site with “a new, high quality, hotel” and has already held talks with town hall planners about its proposals.

Coun Peter Hunter, who at that time was chairman of the Planning Committee, agreed to delegate the decision to approve the demolition after being told some work to take down the building had already been done rendering it uninhabitable.

Two objections had been received warning of disruption but these were dealt with by conditions set out by the council in a demolition management plan.

A town hall email says: “Unfortunately, due to a technicality, the applicant was unable to apply for prior approval in this instance as some soft strip works were undertaken (which do not need planning permission), rendering the buildings uninhabitable before notifying the local planning authority.”

A planning brief, which was submitted along with the application for demolition, had warned simply refurbishing the existing buildings was not possible due to their poor state, and the fact the hotels are a conglomeration of different properties.

It said: “The buildings are in a poor state of repair both structurally and cosmetically and, now vacant, are increasingly targeted by vandals and anti social behaviour detracting from the character and appearance of the Promenade.”

The building occupied by the St Chad’s Hotel dated back to 1893 with the remainder of the buildings being added in stages since around 1912.

This had led to various changes in level between the different properties, inadequate lifts and staircases and narrow corridors.