Fire rids Kilmarnock town centre of an eyesore

Jun 18 2008 By Stef Lach

A GIANT blaze which resulted in three buildings being knocked down in Kilmarnock town centre is being seen as a blessing.

Firefighters tackled the fire in High Glencairn Street for two hours on Monday afternoon. No one was hurt.

The rundown property once housed the McLean Arms pub which closed a decade ago.

Other properties on either side of the pub were so badly damaged that they too had to be pulled down.

Monday night’s events have removed an eyesore part of the town centre — in good time for redevelopment starting next month.

There appears to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire.

It is believed that the McLean Arms site is owned by a subsidiary company of Tesco, who plan to use the land behind it for a massive superstore.

East Ayrshire Council leader Douglas Reid was at the scene as the buildings were demolished on Monday evening.

He said: "Our buildings control officers were on hand and there were obvious health and safety concerns over the state of the buildings.

"The pub and the two buildings adjacent to it were torn down straight away to make the area safe.

"The nearby hairdressers and a flat above it were not damaged but the former restaurant to the left of the fire site will be inspected by structural engineers as soon as possible."

High Glencairn Street was closed while the fire was tackled and re-opened after the demolition.

Eye witness and retired builder John Mareschal said: "Everyone will be happy now. The place was a tip.

"Tesco wanted the building down to start on their new store. The town wanted it down to move ahead with their grand regeneration scheme.

"All we need now is for someone to wave a magic wand and the college will flit to the old Food Giant site.

"But that might not be just so easy."