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A British hotel once frequented by Jane Austen is to be transformed into student accommodation in a new chapter in its history that has left fans of the British novelist “desperate”.
Fans of the Pride and Prejudice author said they were dismayed to learn that Southampton’s heritage-listed Dolphin Hotel is to be converted into campus accommodation in a “disappointing” move Authorities in the town on England’s south coast have agreed to a proposal to convert it into 99 student accommodation, taking into account “established needs” in the city.
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But Austin fan clubs and readers around the world want to preserve the 500-year-old inn, noting it’s where the author spent his birthday in December 1793. Cheryl Butler, a member of the Austin Reenactors, accused the city council of throwing its history away.
“It’s really frustrating,” she said. “I feel despair for Southampton’s planners. Everyone is disappointed but not surprised.”
She told the Southern Daily Echo that Austen spent “a pretty significant period of her life” in the port city, which was “key to her development as a writer. I just find it bizarre why anyone would single out that building and think it’s a good building for students to use.”
British comedian David Baddiel, who is an ambassador for the Jane Austen Hampshire House Museum, told the Daily Telegraph: “It’s important that this element of our history of great artists be preserved – and I do think Jane Austen was a great artist.”
The council is reportedly considering including a museum or interpretive center in the redevelopment, but critics say it would be “lip service” to Austin’s heritage.
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