Good day to you all,
May I firstly thank you all for the kind comments you have posted. It is very gratifying to hear that you are as excited as we are about The New Chapter of The Merchant Hotel.
If you have any questions that haven’t been addressed by the extension website please leave a comment and I will endeavour to answer promptly.
Today we have been obliged to block Skipper Street to facilitate the moving of the Northern Ireland Electricity sub-station. This is a necessary upheaval which will allow the old building to meet the new, bringing us one important step closer to completion.
Advertisement
November 17, 2009 at 9:10 pm |
Hi, Great new building!! Love the exterior which looks of a great quality! Proud to see a new building in Belfast of high standards such as those seen a hundred years ago in the city!!
I hope to have the Merchant Hotel page on my website updated soon with all the construction photos i have taken since demolition works on the site began until present day for people to follow this fantastic development!!
I remember reading that when the Merchant extension and the National Hotel are completed that Skipper Street may be pedesterianised… is this still the plan? I think it would be a fantastic idea!! I think the streetscape around a building makes all the difference to building itself and can really improve the setting! Will the Merchant Hotel be paving around the extension in the same quality paving seen in other parts of the Cathedral Quarter or will it be tarmac? I know it’s a picky question but it is all part of reflecting the quality that the Merchant represents and makes so many Belfast people proud of!!
Hope the hotel has great success with the extension and no doubt the Merchants great name will continue to spread!!
Gary
futurebelfast.com
December 3, 2009 at 5:33 pm |
Hi Gary,
Thank you so much for the feedback and for the questions. Apologies for the delay in responding – last week was Christmas decorating week here at the hotel. Its a big job and it falls into my remit (along with several other managers and staff!). Anyway, that’s all done and dusted and I am back to the weekly blog. To answer your question, we are indeed hoping to pedestrianise Skipper Street but it’s a lengthy process as it involves a lot of imput from various public sector bodies. I should stress that everyone is being very helpful and they are definitely keen that this project proceed as speedily as possible, but it is an unprecented scheme and everyone is learning as we go along. If we hit no glitches whatsoever (!) there is a slim chance that Skipper Street could be unveiled in all its new glory in time for the opening of the new part of the hotel in summer 2010. But being glitch free – well that is in the lap of the gods! As to the quality of materials we are proposing for Skipper Street, I quite agree that they should reflect the quality of The Merchant itself. To that end we have looked a scheme that encompasses both superb paving materials, a clever lighting scheme, seating and public sculpture. It’s quite an undertaking but could be the benchmark for other public/private liaisons throughout the city. When I find myself in a position to reveal the images of the proposed scheme I will put them on this blog.
Hope that answers the question and please do get in touch again if I can answer any others.
Best wishes
Petra Wolsey
Marketing Manager
The Merchant Hotel