Demolition work has stopped on the former Grosvenor Hotel near Temple Meads station in Bristol - and Bristol Live understands the owner does not intend to start it up again to demolish the entire building. The back half of the former hotel has been left standing, after a weekend which saw demolition crews pull down the original 1875 front part of the hotel, which was badly hit by fire in the autumn of 2022.
Now, it appears that what will be left is an even worse eyesore than before, with the 1930s curved rear extension to the building still standing.
The fire in October 2022 left the original part of the Victorian hotel badly damaged and structurally unsound, and the subsequent removal of scaffolding in the spring of 2023, prompted the council to maintain a wider exclusion zone around the unsafe building, with real fears it could fall down. That exclusion zone stretched out as far as the pavement and bus lane on the northbound side of Temple Way, causing ongoing delays to cycling and public transport on a key bus route past Temple Meads station.
In pictures: Grosvenor Hotel demolition in pictures as landmark building is knocked down
As it happened: Bristol's Grosvenor Hotel is torn down in long-awaited demolition
The owner of the hotel, Nimish Popat, was the subject of a series of court actions by Bristol City Council, which demanded that he either make the building safe, or demolish it - it's not protected by Listed Building status - and Mr Popat successfully applied for planning permission to demolish the building around a year ago, in the spring of 2023.
When a demolition crew arrived late last week, first reported by Bristol Live, the demolition was widely welcomed - particularly by the mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, who tweeted that the demolition was a step forward for the wider plans for the huge Temple Quarter regeneration of the area around the station.
But Bristol Live understands the plan is to only demolish the fire-damaged part of the building, which will enable the council to reduce the exclusion zone and reopen the pavement and the bus lane - something that was providing the most immediate pressure from the council on Mr Popat.
Last autumn, the city council refused to release email exchanges between council officers and Mr Popat, to protect the owner and his company, Earlcloud. The council said: "Disclosure has the strong chance of causing potential harm or distress via release into the public domain, such as targeted harassment through social media and the pursuance of legal action.
“Additionally, in this situation the data subjects would have reasonable expectations that their personal information will remain confidential and would not be disclosed to the public. Based on the above factors, we consider that there is insufficient legitimate interest to outweigh the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individuals involved," the council spokesperson added.
A source close to the ongoing saga of the Grosvenor Hotel, who declined to be named, told Bristol Live: "The owner has so far done the bare minimum so the road and pavement can reopen - it's about cost," he said. "He doesn't want to spend any more than he possibly needs to. He's offered the building and the site to the council, but the council isn't willing to pay the amount he wants for it, so this is the situation," he added.
In March 2022, six months before the fire, Bristol City Council's cabinet finally approved plans to undertake a compulsory purchase order on both the Grosvenor Hotel and the derelict George and Railway hotel building next door - but this is not believed to have happened yet.
