Plans have emerged detailing the £4.7 million transformation of a former Angus school.
Chapelpark Primary School in Forfar has lain empty since 2008, when the doors closed during the multi-million-pound Forfar/Carnoustie schools replacement project.
And Angus Council hopes to convert the building and its grounds into affordable housing with 25 flats in the main building and four houses in the former playground area.
Access roads, parking, footpaths, refuse points, drying areas and the installation of an SSE sub-station are also included in the application.
Cost for construction would be £3.6m, with allowances for fees, stripping out and partial demolition of the annexe, statutory payments and contingencies making up another £1.1m.
More than £3.3m will come from the council’s housing revenue account, alongside £1.3m in Scottish Government grants towards affordable housing.
Work could begin as early as December and be finished by March 2017.
The new housing will comprise 18 one-bedroom flats, six two-bedroom flats, one three-bedroom flat, and several four-bedroom terraced houses.
These will be owned and managed by Angus Council as affordable rented accommodation.
Forfar Community Council chairwoman Isobel Ross said the B-listed building should be used for culture instead of housing.
She said: “They don’t make properties like that anymore.
“I’m sure there will be people who will think it’s a great idea but the community council feels the site should be turned into something that will be of use to the people of Forfar.
“Forfar Community Council suggested the school become a heritage centre including a library, the relocation of the Meffan museum and the Hunter museum, which houses all the archives.”
The Category B-listed school was built to a design by Montrose architect David Logan in 1815, who was also the architect of the original Montrose Academy.
A smaller building that housed the music department and gym was added in 1910.
After the new Forfar Academy buildings opened on Taylor Street in 1965, the academy was renamed Chapelpark and given over to primary education.