It’s been for sale for three years with no decent bids.
Now the community wants to save the only pub in the village.
The King’s Arms in Ballantrae has welcomed travellers and locals for more than 250 years.
Despite the low offers over £295,000 price tag, nobody has stumped up the cash.
Now the Ballantrae Trust are hoping to raise finance to save what they believe is a core community asset.
Barrhill is just celebrating after a community buyout of the privately owned Trout Inn - again the only pub in the village.
And it has spurred Ballantrae into action.
The Kings has commanded Main Street since about 1774.
It has six letting rooms, a lounge and public bar and a beer garden out the back.
Andy McAlpine, chairman of Ballantrae Trust said: “We’re really keen that the King’s Arms continues to be a part of life in Ballantrae.
“Part of the process is finding out what members of the community want to use the building for.
“As well as a pub and hotel, it could offer a meeting space with high speed broadband, training opportunities for young people or even a takeaway.”
Ballantrae residents have completed a questionnaire and the results will be shared with funders as evidence of the community’s support and to show what ideas residents have for the future of the building.
Andy believes that the future is bright for the King’s Arms and the village as a whole.
He said:“Ballantrae is a great place to live, work and visit and we want to keep it that way.
“Support from the community plays a major part in taking forward Trust projects like the King’s Arms and we hope as many people as possible let us know what they think.”
The Kings was built with stone from the ruins of Ardstinchar Castle and was first owned by the Earl of Stair.
The Ballantrae Trust was formed in November 2017 to benefit the community of the Ballantrae Community Council area.
