Falklands : Upland Goose Hotel to Close
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 09.01.2008 (Article Archived on 23.01.2008)
A major hotel in centre Stanley is to be converted into residential units.
Photo (c) J. Brock (FINN) The Upland Goose Hotel as it is today.
UPLAND GOOSE HOTEL TO CLOSE
The Upland Goose Hotel as it is today.
By J. Brock (FINN)
The Falklands are to lose a major hotel in the centre of Stanley. FIC Director, Roger Spink, told FIRS, “It’s down to economics. For many years we declared in our accounts that the losses that we make over the winter period outstrip any profits that we make in the summer period.” Mr Spink also confirmed that the hotel will be converted back into residential units and that nine are planned including four three bedroom houses, two, two bedroom flats, two one bedroom flats and one two bedroom bungalow.
Marmont Row, as it was originally called, is a listed building and Mr Spink hopes it will become a very attractive place to live in the centre of Stanley. “We felt that within the design fabric of the Upland Goose Hotel, there was a limited scope to increase on the profitability of the hotel,” Mr Spink said.
The Architect has been in discussions with the Historic Buildings Committee and it is hoped that his proposals find favour with the committee. One item of interest is removing the conservatory and rebuilding the porches on the original building.
Archivist and member of the Historic Buildings Committee, Jane Cameron said that as long as the work is carried out maintaining the current character of the building the conversion could be perfectly acceptable in landscape terms.
According to Ms Cameron the Upland Goose Hotel was formerly known as the Eagle Inn and in later years, the Ship Hotel and was the first hotel in the Falkland Islands, built by Jacob Napoleon Goss in 1854. It had 5 cottages attached for employees of the Falkland Islands Company. John Malcolm Dean bought the hotel in 1875 but it later was a joint venture between the Dean Brothers and the FIC and in 1889 again came under FIC ownership.
According to Ms Cameron, towards the West End of the building there was a millinery store, becoming the Colony Club in 1933 and now hold offices for British Antarctic Survey.
She went on to say that in 1969 the hotel was sold to Mr Des King, the proprietor during the 1982 Conflict with Argentina. In 1988 it was sold to Witte Boyd, a fishing Company, who sold the hotel back to the Falkland Islands Company in 1991.
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