The eight-week demolition project of a hotel has begun in order to rebuild the once-thriving venue.
Work on the Cliffemount Hotel, in Runswick Bay, started this morning, as contractors arrived on site on Monday (August 19) to set up and prepare for the demolition process.
The demolition of the building itself is expected to commence during the second week of September.
The entire process, which is being led by Stainforth Construction, has been given an expected completion date of October 11, 2024.
Cliffemount Hotel was once a popular destination for tourists.
In 2022 the hotel closed and was sold to the Fojt family, who have strong links to Runswick Bay.
In 2023, it was announced that the family intended to demolish the old hotel and rebuild Cliffemount as a new 20-sea-view room hotel, pub and restaurant.
If successful, the new Cliffemount would be the first hotel in the UK to achieve Passivhaus accreditation, which has sustainability at the forefront.
For this accreditation to be achievable, the existing building must be completely stripped away and rebuilt in the same spot.
Melissa Tomlinson, managing director said: “It’s a huge milestone for us to be able to announce that demolition is commencing.
"It’s taken a lot of time and effort from all involved parties to make it happen because it’s such a huge process.
“The scale of the project as a whole meant it was always going to take a while for work to begin, but it has taken a little longer than expected.
"This is largely because we’ve never been willing to compromise on quality. We’ve always said we would consider the community in everything we do. We’ve stayed true to that to date and plan on continuing to do so.
“We want to thank everyone for their continued support and their patience whilst we made the necessary arrangements.
"We’ve received such lovely comments and well wishes from residents, and the support means a lot to us, especially considering there will inevitably be a little disruption throughout our project.”
A letter of intent has been issued to residents who may be affected by the work being carried out in the coming weeks.
Paul Thackray, site manager at Stainforth Construction said in the letter: “We aim to conduct the works with the minimum amount of disruption to the local community and environment.
“Unfortunately, there will inevitably be some element of disruption, mainly due to the delivery of construction machinery. Anyone with any questions or concerns can reach out to our team directly and we will be happy to comment.”
Although the demolition is expected to be completed by mid-October, no date has been announced for work to begin on building the new Cliffemount.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here