The morning after the King’s Head section of the Ocean Hotel in Sandown went up in flames, residents in the town share their thoughts and express their devastation at the damage caused to this historic building.
Founder of Our Sandown Facebook Group, Paul Coueslant, said,
“Never have the words ‘told you so’ had a truer meaning for the politicians and planners who failed to get the Ocean Hotel site cleaned up and made secure in the two years since developers Carlauren legged it out of town.
“On the very day we learned Sandown had voted its mayor and deputy mayor out of office, it’s oddly apt that their shameful legacy – an historic seafront uncared for, unsightly, the butt of cruel jokes by tourists and locals alike – should go up in flames in such a dramatic way.”
Coueslant: Irreplaceable staircase almost certainly destroyed”
Paul went on to add,
“This part of the Ocean Hotel is irreplaceable, and the wooden staircase of the old King’s Head trodden by Charles Darwin and Lewis Carroll almost certainly destroyed.”
Coueslant: “A funeral pyre for all your years of neglect”
Paul finished by saying,
“Our Sandown is devastated. Those whose inaction has enabled this tragedy to happen know who they are. We all do.
“Let this event be a funeral pyre for all your years of neglect, your lack of care, your utter disregard for the heritage of the town we live in.”
Image: © From the Jeff Brett Collection
