Plans to rebuild Anchor Bar after accidental fire

Plans to rebuild Anchor Bar after accidental fire

7 September 2022

NEWCASTLE’S Anchor Bar, which was destroyed in a blaze last January, is to be rebuilt.

The Bryansford Road building is to be demolished as part of a major renovation plan which will include a number of new apartments, following the accidental fire which destroyed the well known building.

The intensity of the ferocious blaze was so intense that more than a dozen fire appliances extinguished the early morning blaze, with firefighters working hard to prevent the fire from spreading further.

Details of the ambitious redevelopment proposal — which will almost double the current floorspace — are contained in papers submitted to Newry, Mourne and Down Council planners. If the scheme is given the green light, the rebuilt property will feature a total of five new apartments.

The planning papers reveal that the devastating Janaury fire left the building “structurally unsound” and that demolition and rebuild is the only option moving forward.

In addition, the papers say there is “also a desire to return some of the site to its historic residential use and to improve the streetscape along this section of the Bryansford Road.”

The first floor will include a multi-function room and performance space with those behind the redevelopment plan confident that it will provide Newcastle with a venue that can welcome performance artists and accommodate them professionally.

The redesigned building will also be set back slightly off the busy main road to make access and exits easier, while the north west side of the site has been “assigned to residential use”.

Developers say the “service core” has been designed to separate it from the bar to “remove concerns about noise issues”.

The planned apartments feature three single-bedroom units and two two-bedroom properties, with a total of eight parking spaces for the use of residents and bar staff.

Planning papers lodged with the local authority also detail what has been described as an external amenity area or first floor occupants which will be accessible via communal stairs, with a locked bin storage area and secure facility for bicycles also featuring in the development proposal.