Esther Clark, who is currently secretary of the Ayr Development Trust, claims that South Ayrshire Council is not doing enough to repurpose and save the iconic sites.
The former Station Hotel is now mostly demolished following a devastating fire in September last year.
Esther, the Ayr Development Group, and a host of other organisations spoke out against the demolition, which the council undertook on safety grounds.
This was due to the absence of the site’s owner, Sunny Ung, who briefly halted demolition with a legal challenge in the courts.
Ms Clark has always believed the best solution was to join forces with other organisations to rescue and transform the building and then hand it over to a community-run group.
She said: “The Scottish Historic Buildings Trust wanted to take on the hotel and the council agreed initially, although it had to compulsorily purchase the site.
“Unfortunately it didn’t happen and we proposed to use the Community Empowerment Act to take it over but that didn’t work either.
“We had the support and were confident of making it work but the council just didn’t want it to happen.
“Their own plans for the site never materialised, and then the demolition took place under emergency powers.”
The campaigner has criticised the council for not taking on board the development trust’s suggestions for the building and for other sites in the town it has been trying to repurpose.
(Image: Newsquest) She said: “We’ve been stopped from doing what we want to do with the former Station Hotel and other sites.
“A whole lot of plans have been put forward to the council and they always want to do emergency demolition instead.
“They can’t look after what they’ve got at the minute, so we feel that there’s not enough support for other things to happen.”
A council spokesperson said: “Over the years, the council has engaged with a number of groups including the Ayr Development Trust on the future of the privately-owned Station Hotel.
“We are happy to continue to discuss proposals with any groups who have viable suggestions to help repurpose vacant buildings in Ayr.”
Esther has now called for the community to get more involved with the Ayr Development Trust and help to protect the town’s historic sites.
She said: “One big benefit of the trust is that we can compulsorily purchase from private owners but we are banging our heads against a wall.
“Our aim now would be to take over vacant buildings in the town centre, add them together and create something useful.
“We need people with expertise among our ranks, so if you want to do your bit, then get in touch.”
For more information visit the trust’s Facebook page or go to https://adt.scot/.