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Exclusive: American owners say £2m New Aberdour hotel revamp is ‘in limbo’ as church could become village hub instead

Clan Baird - which took over Dower Hotel two years ago - will now work with the church group to tweak their revamp plans and create something different for the community.

Members of Clan Baird stood outside Dower Hotel in New Aberdour.
Clan Baird purchased the Dower Hotel in New Aberdour in 2022 with plans to transform it into a vibrant community hub. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Plans to turn a dilapidated hotel at the heart of New Aberdour into a vibrant community hub have been put on hold.

But its American owners say this is only temporarily until they figure out how to redevelop the building so it “gives residents what they want and need”.

Members of the Clan Baird Society Worldwide purchased Dower Hotel back in 2022, hoping to bring the crumbling structure back to its former glory.

The centuries-old hotel that once hosted weddings, birthday parties and joyful nights of ceilidh dancing had been empty for more than 15 years.

Dower Hotel has fallen into disarray since closing in 2007. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson 12/12/2022

Determined to breathe new life into the rural spot, the team launched a £2 million project to fix up the venue and make it a hub with a range of activities.

But just a few months after, the village church was earmarked for closure – striking yet another blow to the community that had already lost its school and only grocery store.

Locals immediately joined together to save it, coming up with a plan to repurpose the church and show how important it is to them.

And as their scheme progresses, Clan Baird has now decided to take a step back and rethink the revamp of the Dower Hotel…

The church in New Aberdour has been earmarked for closure. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson.

What were the initial Dower Hotel revamp plans?

The initial plans aimed to create “something meaningful for the community”, while also providing a home for the clan on their ancestors’ land.

Members of Clan Baird Society Worldwide jetted thousands of miles from the States to New Aberdour two years ago to research the area and gather locals’ thoughts.

And they drafted an ambitious scheme to turn Dower Hotel into a community hub, with a restaurant and a tearoom, as well as a small shop where locals can buy essentials.

Dower Hotel in New Aberdour.
Clan Baird jetted 4,000 miles from Athens, near Nashville, to New Aberdour to visit the crumbling historic building. Pictured (L-R): Bob Watson, Debra Baird, Jim Kerner, Laura lynn Kerner, Kate Kelly, Ailsa Kelly. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson.

The second floor was to be refurbished with six en-suite bedrooms, while the room at the back would have been converted into a workshop studio for artists.

A designated space for dance, storytelling, music and Doric classes, as well as a culture trail highlighting the unique history of the New Aberdour area were also in the pipeline.

And while not exactly the same, these ideas are close to what locals have started to introduce at the village’s St Drostan’s church in a bid to keep it open and viable.

Dower Hotel in New Aberdour.
The building on the right was going to be turned into a workshop. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson.

‘We are in limbo right now’

Clan convener Debra Baird says these recent developments have thrown their plans into “uncertainty” as they don’t want to hinder the work the church group is doing.

“We are in limbo right now as we don’t know what the community needs,” she tells me from her home in Georgia.

“We don’t want to cause any kind of difficulty for anyone – that was never our plan – and we don’t want to end up in competition with the church.

“Of all things, we certainly don’t want to interfere with their plans – but support them in whatever they want to do with it.

“So we just decided to halt everything until all of this is decided.”

Dower Hotel in New Aberdour.
In 2013, the former hotel was put on the Buildings at Risk register and advertised for sale after Historic Scotland found it “empty, very damp and in poor overall condition”. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson.

What’s happening with the New Aberdour church?

For the last few months, Friends of New Aberdour Church (FNAC) have been holding various activities at the building in efforts to keep it alive.

From children’s disco events to coffee mornings and history talks, it is now regularly filled with the hubbub of locals enjoying themselves.

And they have vowed to keep this going for as long as they can.

Friends of New Aberdour Church also hold “heritage displays” at St Drostan’s. Image: Isaac Buchan/DC Thomson.

The group has been working with Clan Baird’s strategic planner Laura Lynn Kerner to come up with alternative proposals for the church, potentially taking it over if it shuts.

However, chairman Graeme Bruce says this is still very much up in the air as they wait for Church of Scotland to confirm their decision and set a date for the closure.

So what’s next for the derelict hotel?

Debra adds that delaying their project doesn’t mean they are giving up on the Dower Hotel.

Quite the opposite, they are doing it to make it the best that it can be.

The clan now plans to return to the Aberdeenshire village in the next few months, and start again from scratch to ensure the church and the hotel complement each other.

New Aberdour hotel design image.
First design images of the proposed refurbishment of Dower Hotel. Image: Clan Baird.

Debra says: “Our aim has always been to do whatever would serve the community best.

“So now, we think the best plan of action is to come back, talk with the community again and see how we can all work together to make that happen.

“We don’t want to duplicate services, but add on what’s on offer in New Aberdour.

“And once the community has told us what they would like us to do, we will make adjustments and pick things up from where we left off.”


Read more about what other communities in the north-east are doing to bring derelict sites back to life:

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