Waterfall Hotel: Society want 'meaningful life' for Victorian pub

The pub was opened as the New York Hotel in the 1860s but the name was later changed

A Victorian pub which will not be protected from demolition should be given a "meaningful new life" as part of a conservation area, a Manx history society has said.

The government has said the Waterfall Hotel in Glen Maye will not be added to the Protected Building Register.

A plan to demolish it and build houses on the site has been put forward.

However, the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society said the pub should be refurbished instead.

Built in the early 1860s as housing, the hotel was opened as a public house in 1865, but has been vacant for several years.

'Not unique'

Two applications to demolish the building have been rejected since 2017, though the second is currently under appeal.

The society's vice chairman Dave Martin said while it recognised that very few sites "merit 100% preservation", it was "far better if a building can find a meaningful new life, which may well involve conservation and controlled modification for new or different uses".

He said he accepted it was "not of the oldest construction and not unique in style", but it was "definitely part of the character of the area".

"The society would prefer the existing hotel building to be retained and given a new life, preferably as part of a conservation area," he said.

He added that it had become "increasingly recognised" by environmental groups and architectural bodies that "we should refurbish old buildings rather than scrap them", because of the pollution caused by constructing a replacement.