What does the future hold the for the community hall in the centre of Inveraray?
It is lying boarded up behind safety fencing and is listed on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland.
The present board of Inspire Inveraray is determined to succeed where previous members failed and bring the building back to life.
Just how this can be done, and what the building can be used for will be decided after a public consultation planned for late January next year.
Inspire Inveraray has commissioned a survey to help reach a conclusive decision on whether the derelict community hall should be restored or if a new hall should be commissioned.
Inspire Inveraray said: “We know that our predecessors had attempted to address the challenge of our Community Hall, and we hope the community will support this renewed project.
“The New Board of Inspire Inveraray has analysed the resources left behind by the previous leadership and found a lack of a cohesive plan and data that is no longer relevant to the needs of our ever-changing community in a post-COVID world.”
There has been a church, public building or school on the site since at least 1871 and this 1907 building was used as a school up until 1962 and then by the community.
When inspected for the Buildings at Risk Register in 2009 the report declared it was in fair to poor condition and in need of maintenance: “The front elevation is the poorest, where there appears to be significant structural problems.”
A further inspection in 2012 found no significant change since the previous visit, “but overall the building remains in poor condition and disused”.
Today’s Inspire Inveraray team is already doing a great job at the pier and hopes to repeat this success with the community hall.
Watch out for more details in The Advertiser in January about the public consultation and on Inspire Inveraray’s social media.