A proposal for the sale of the Imperial Hotel and the adjoining Glenpark building to a developer to turn the premises into a 44-bedroom commercial hotel will come before a meeting of Mayo County Council next Monday.
The Western People is reporting that Councillors from the Castlebar Municipal District noted the Section 183 agreement proposing the disposal of the two properties for a figure of €700,000 to hoteliers Joe Egan and PJ Staid at a meeting held in Balla yesterday.
The Imperial Hotel was first opened in 1785 and was purchased by the Council in 2011 but has not been in use since.
The adjoining Glenpark building currently houses the Motor Tax office and National Roads Design Office (NRDO) and was purchased by the Council in 1999 for £787,000.
As part of the proposed agreement, the Imperial Hotel would be first renovated into a 22-bedroom hotel before expanding into the Glenpark building and becoming a 44-bedroom hotel. Planning permission will need to be applied for and the developer must take the historic nature of the Imperial Hotel, which is where the Land League was founded in 1879, into account.
Mayo County Council will have an option to re-purchase the premises back from the developer for a fee no greater than the sale price should a certain period of time pass by.
The topic has once again provoked debate from councillors.
