A New Future for Empty Hotel, Douglas Arms

Castle Douglas Development Forum is seeking to bring the Douglas Arms back into reuse and contribute to Castle Douglas’ food town status.

Castle Douglas Development Forum (CDDF) in cooperation with Castle Douglas Food Town Initiative is currently developing project ideas which will contribute to the status of Castle Douglas as a food town. With the support of a new project run in partnership between DTAS(Development Trusts Association Scotland) and the Scottish Land Commission, CDDF are also now looking into the feasibility of homing some of these projects within the Douglas Arms.

The journey to bringing a privately owned vacant site back into reuse through community ownership is expected to take a couple of years. Currently, CDDF is researching what level of ownership best suits the community and project needs. Although this sounds like a long journey, CDDF recognise that it is a challenge worth tackling as many local people have said that finding a productive and viable use for this building is a top local priority.

This project is taking forward one of the ambitions from the recent strategic town plan, and a grant has been awarded by The Architectural Heritage Fund along with support from Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership to commission a feasibility study. An architect has been recently commissioned to undertake the study which will check that the site is suitable, develop options for how it can be used and estimate how much work and funding would be required to complete the project. Throughout the journey community support will be essential therefore on the completion of this report we will consult with the community to ensure the community’s opinions and ambitions can influence the next stages of development and it will provide a springboard for speaking with wider stakeholders and funders.

There will be several opportunities to get involved,however if you’d like to express your interest in getting involved please get in touch via [email protected].