A SOUTHAMPTON company is hoping to win a grant of £23,301 towards restoring the surviving staff quarters of the famous former Polygon Hotel.

Environmental chiefs from the city council could make the award to Bayview Developments at a meeting tomorrow.

The company wants to repair the external features of the premises which are currently on the city council's register of listed building judged to be at risk.

The proposal includes the refurbishment of windows, ironwork and roof repairs.

Total cost of the work has been assessed provisionally at £77,670.

Edward Bizzey, from Bayview Develop-ments, said: "We are converting the buildings back into residential property and hope the grant will go through as the exterior was left in a bit of a state."

The landmark Polygon Hotel was demolished in April this year to make way for 108 luxury flats and 14 houses.

Its roots can be traced back to Georgian times but the original building was pulled down in the 1780s. By the early 1900s the Polygon, in its art-deco architectural style it had achieved international status.

It was considered the hotel to stay in if you had an overnight stay before catching your luxury liner. In recent years competition from modern hotels with plush facilities sent it into decline.

Famous former residents included the boxer Muhammed Ali, Morecambe and Wise and Tommy Cooper.

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