A near-£1million project to transform one of Perth’s best-loved buildings will be completed by Christmas.
The Reverend Scott Burton is confident the congregation of St Matthew’s on Tay Street will be back worshipping in the church before the turn of the year.
“Everyone is very happy with the progress,” said Mr Burton, who currently leads services in the church hall.
Not only is the exterior of the iconic waterfront church swathed in scaffolding, the interior of the building is full of scaffolding to allow the major reinvention of the building to take place.
Central to the project is the reconfiguration of the sanctuary which will mean that it will become a much more flexible area which will better serve the wider community, acting as a venue for a variety of uses.
“What business would only use a building like this for one hour a week?” said Mr Burton.
With help from various trusts, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and the fundraising efforts of the congregation the £900,000 project got underway in May.
Some £250,000 of that figure is being spent on the exterior to restore the stonework, guttering and stained glass work and provide a disabled access ramp at the front.
The building with its 212ft high steeple is a focal point of almost every photograph of Tay Street and Mr Burton says the current work is part of an ongoing process since it was built in 1871.
The pews have all been removed and mostly sold to boost funds but during the work they discovered that many changes had been made over the years.
The rare access to the high roof revealed a painter named C.Christie had left his mark while carrying out work in 1896.
During the work subsidence was discovered which required £35,000 of a contingency fund to be used to ensure that the completed building will be sound for hundreds more years.
