The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
A bar with a view could be popular city centre business’ s next venture
Could Siberia’s sky bar help bring back the buzz to Belmont Street? The boss of the city centre institution, Angela Stirling, thinks so.
She said the plans, still in their early stages, would be just the next step amid major renovations to boost business in recent years.
This comes as Belmont Street traders seek to shine new light on the area of Aberdeen, after closures in recent weeks and reports of sagging city centre footfall.
With the Big Belmont Bash street festival around the corner, I visited Angela as staff prepared for another busy Friday.
Angela, 52, has been involved with Siberia since 2002, having previously been the manager at the Long Island Iced Tea Shop on Bon Accord Terrace.
All has not been well on Belmont Street of late.
South American restaurant Tucan and Caribbean venue Tango Turtle shut their doors yards away from Siberia, with the former blaming “no footfall” in the area.
Angela cast her mind back, and said there has been a “gradual” city centre decline “probably since Union Square opened”.
The Glasgow native said she “can’t complain” about how things have been over the past year – especially with Siberia proving popular in the warmer weather.
“We are very much a summer bar because of the outside area, so winter is very slow but summer is very busy,” Angela said.
“Overall for the year, it has been very good.
“The hotel has had great occupancy, there are lots of tourists in the city so during that period between June and October we have had fantastic occupancy.
“We have had a wide range of tourists. Swiss, Spanish, Italian, French, American, Canadian, you name it.”
Despite well-publicised traffic changes impacting visitor numbers, is the city centre location to thank for this?
“Belmont is still a destination for people to come,” she said.
But Angela, and many others, want to let people know that both day and night-time businesses can still thrive on Belmont.
The owner of Breathing Space Yoga Studio Laura Watt previously told us: “It’s not just clubs and bars, there is a lot of good stuff going on.”
Siberia is one of the 30 businesses taking part in the Big Belmont Bash on September 7. Organised by Collective on the Cobbles, the event is aiming to bring the buzz back to Belmont Street with a day-long street festival.
Angela explained: “We’ve got a garden party on that day to showcase what we do.
“It will offer loads of entertainment, DJs, music, cocktails. Hopefully people can come, have a drink, and the sun shines!”
As we finished off, Angela left me with what Siberia has planned for the future – which could make it an even bigger destination during sunny days.
The Belmont Street stalwarts are looking to bring something completely new to the city – a sky bar.
Angela doesn’t want to give away too much yet, but said they are “currently looking at getting planning permission” for their rooftop expansion.
“It won’t necessarily happen any time soon, but it could happen within the next year,” the bar and hotel boss confided.
Siberia’s current flat roof could offer views overlooking Union Terrace Gardens and Union Street, but time will tell what Angela and the team have in store for it.
Siberia aims to undertake a major facelift of both its bar and hotel rooms too.
It comes after a bit of a revamp a few years ago that expanded into neighbouring units.
The owners took over the former Melt cafe, turning it into the Dough and Co doughnut shop, and it has also launched a new “multifunctional space”.
Its new Cavern space hosts everything from cocktail classes to karaoke parties, and can be accessed through a door in the beer garden.