Major Scheme in North Wales Town Includes Historic Hotel Demolition

There’s a plan to knock down an old hotel in Abergele, North Wales. People think it looks bad, and a housing association wants to replace it with a new college building.

This college building is part of a bigger plan that includes three new projects to improve Abergele’s appearance and help the town grow. These projects also include a community center, homes for older people, and a new public park.

The first step is to demolish the Bee Hotel on Market Street, and Conwy Council must approve this project for Cartrefi Conwy to manage it. The new college will cost about £3.8 million and will be a new home for Grŵp Llandrillo Menai.

The Bee Hotel closed back in 2017 and has been empty for some time. Some people tried to save it a few years ago, but protecting it from damage costs too much, and architects say a new building works better because fixing the old hotel would require big changes.

The new college must meet certain standards, including net-zero emissions and modern construction guidelines, so architects say it’s not practical to save the hotel. Instead, they say they must demolish it, reusing materials when they can, to honor Abergele’s history.

The new college will teach British sign language and will include a small parking lot with nine spaces for staff and visitors located in the back.

If everything goes as planned, they will build the college by 2026, as Coleg Llandrillo needs a new location because their current lease ends in August 2026. Cartrefi Conwy says this will help Abergele’s economy, as students and staff will help local businesses thrive.

The next step involves two nearby car dealerships, formerly Slater’s, which used to sell Citroen and Nissan cars there. The dealerships closed in 2018 after 100 years, and about 74 people lost their jobs.

Cartrefi Conwy said the area looks bad and has become run-down, so redeveloping it is important to them, and this project will be the housing association’s biggest ever.

They plan to build housing for older people, meant for people over 55, next to the new college, with construction expected by 2027, and the community center should follow by 2028.

A temporary “meanwhile park” exists now near the Tesco entrance. This will soon be turned into a real park, where they plan to use some existing parts of the temporary park.