Cocktail bar, restaurant, bowling alley and flats to be built on site of seafront hotel destroyed in fire

The land on North Terrace in Seaham has been left vacant after a fire tore through the Harbour View Hotel in September 2015, with demolition work then launched after the front of the building then collapsing into the street the following May.

Now, with the backing of Durham County Council, construction has begun on a project which will see it transformed.

Planning permission was granted in March 2017 but building work was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The recent change in Government guidance around construction means the work, which is expected to take 32 weeks, plus time for internal fitting, can continue, with the scheme being given the support of the council’s Towns and Villages Regeneration Programme.

The three-storey building will house a basement office and store; a ground floor restaurant, cafe and bar; and a first-floor cocktail bar with three-lane bowling with five flats across its second and third floors.

It will be accompanied by other improvements to the area, including reinstated car parking and a wider footpath, with more space for people to sit outside the street’s cafes and bars.

The council has said the development will help support the continuing regeneration of Seahm, giving its residents and visitors places to enjoy.

Councillor Kevin Shaw, cabinet member for strategic housing and assets, who also represents the Dawdon ward and is a Seaham Town Council member, said: “This has been a long time in the making but through the dedication of our community economic development team we continue to deliver on our shared vision of improvements to this important area of Seaham as I’m sure our residents will agree.”

Businessman David Gill , who owns the site, said he was grateful for the council’s support and added: “We are extremely pleased that we have now been able to make a start on the development and are looking forward to the future.”

The improvements to North Terrace are part of the three-year Seaham Townscape Heritage Project, which will use £1.6million National Lottery Heritage Fund cash to regenerate the town.

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