Eyesore hotel 'will be heart of Market Drayton again'
It has been boarded up for years and has become something of an eyesore. But new life is to be breathed into a grade II-listed former hotel which sits in the middle of a Shropshire village.
Now the Shropshire Star has been given a rare look inside the Corbet Arms Inn in High Street, Market Drayton.
And its owner says it is set to become the heart of the community once again when the town's post office moves there later this year.
The building, which was built in the 17th century, was once the social hub of the town but in recent years it has become a magnet for vandals.
And owner of the building, businessman Maroof Shah, said the constant attacks by vandals and thieves over the past three years have put the renovation project back by 12 months.
Mr Shah said: "They have got in through roof lights, walked across the roof and jumped down into the building or kicked doors in.
"They have taken windows, lead, copper and damaged walls and coving.
"They have taken the floors up so they can get the copper pipes so we have replaced them with plastic ones and they have taken ceilings down, they have just dismantled it.
"They took lead from the roof too so we have replaced it with lead substitute.
"They have delayed work by about a year."
He said he is not sure how much all the extra work will cost but "the bills keep going up".
Mr Shah, who owns Nisa in Dalelands West and Queen Street post office, bought the building with his brother for £235,000 in 2009 and is determined to breathe new life into it.
He originally planned to spend £800,000 on the refurbishment, which started in 2010.
But he said when work is complete he hopes the popularity of the building will be restored to what it was many years ago.
"When it is all done it will look nice, a lot better," he added.
"There will be 18 rooms and we will use traditional decor. We will keep all the original features that we can – like the staircases – give them a clean and polish.
"We hope to keep some door frames but you can't fit standard doors in them and we may be able to keep some windows but you can't put double glazing on them."
At the moment there is no gas or water in the building and dozens of subcontractors including electricians and plumbers are working around the clock.
Mr Shah said the post office will move from its current location to the former hotel in October and he aims to finish the building "sometime next year".
Plans include restoring the ballroom so it can be used for wedding receptions and other functions, create a restaurant serving English and Asian food and open a coffee shop, possibly Costa Coffee, on the same floor as the post office.
All the rooms and bathrooms will be refurbished and reopened and there could also be a fitness centre, sauna room and nursery.
Staff accommodation will be in the basement, in the former barrel store, from where they cleared 10 skips of rubbish when work first began.
