A petition has been launched calling for a listed building in a popular South Belfast park to be saved from "dereliction and ruin".
Sharon Marks has raised concerns around the state of Wilmont House, based in the heart of Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, which she says has lay empty for over a decade and begun to come into a state of disrepair.
The listed building and the surrounding grounds were gifted to Belfast City Council following the death of Lady Edith Dixon, on the stipulation that the 140 acres became a public park and Wilmont House a hospital or care home.
Following the closure of the care home in 1992, the building had been used for council functions and as a headquarters for the Belfast Marathon, but over the past few years it has not been used at all and is currently classed as being 'at risk'
Sharon said: "It is such a shame that this beautiful building with so much history has been allowed to fall into such a shocking state of disrepair.
"Sitting in the centre of a very popular park in Belfast, it has such great potential to become a community asset and put back into use, but the longer that it sits empty, the more costly that it will be to bring the building back into a usable condition.
"When you consider that this building and the grounds were gifted to the people of Belfast for their use, it is even more disappointing that it is now considered to be at risk and derelict.
"Over the past year I have been asking the council about the plans for the building and I was told that an expression of interest invitation would be put out in October last year, but this never happened.
"If something is not done soon to help the building then it will only fall into further disrepair."
Sharon has launched a petition calling for the council to take action regarding the building which has since been signed by over 500 people.
She continued: "I wasn't sure how much interest there would be in calling for the building to be restored, but after just five days there has been over 500 signatures on the petition which shows there is a strength of feeling in the community that Wilmont House should be saved."
A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “Wilmont House at Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park is a Grade B+ listed building owned by Belfast City Council. We are in the process of preparing an invitation for Expressions of Interest to go to the market later this year, seeking a suitably qualified developer to restore the building and bring it into a new use.”
If you would like to sign the petition please follow this link.
