A bid has been revealed to demolish a former Lake District museum to create a restaurant.
DK Commercial Properties Ltd wants to clear the site of the building that used to house Keswick Mining Museum in the town.
The museum, on Otley Road, closed in 2013 when its owner retired and the private collection was sold.
The developer said the building, which had fallen into a state of disrepair, had reached the end of its useful life, would be demolished and it wanted to replace the single-storey structure with a new two-storey property.
The first floor would house three apartments, with three parking places for residents.
It has applied to the Lake District National Park Authority for permission to create the new building.
The firm said there were no other suitable sites in the town for the scheme.
It said the empty Biketreks unit on Main Street was too far out of the centre and larger than the operator’s requirements. The Bridge Cafe on High Hill was also not in the centre so not suitable.
It has also discounted the former Barclays bank, Lakeland Gifts, Herdwick Distillery, the unit next to Mayson and Atompacks and a former cafe on Main Street as too small.
The planning application does not reveal who the operator would be.
