Hundreds of council staff will return to their new look Perth headquarters next week, in a move which has been described as the start of the city’s regeneration.
Perth and Kinross Council’s High Street base will be revived after 18 months of extensive renovation work, delivering a welcome boost to the city centre economy.
Starting next week, about 500 employees will be transferred back from temporary offices at the Atrium in Glover Street.
Around £10 million has been spent on renovations at the landmark High Street building.
The local authority was earlier this year criticised for using a £850,000 loan to have the top floor rooms of its High Street headquarters moved to ground level.
On Monday, the first section of the new building will open to the public. Further rooms and offices will be opened up as staff are phased in over the two-week October recess period.
Keith Fergie, who chairs the recently established Perth City Traders Association, welcomed the move.
“It has been a long and some sometimes painful process for the businesses in the surrounding areas, particularly George Street,” he said. “But this is the start of the regeneration of Perth.
“We hope that hard lessons have been learned from this project, thus ensuring that similar mistakes are not made with other redevelopment projects such as Thimblerow,” Mr Fergie said, referring to a car park site at the other end of the High Street which has been earmarked for a multi-million-pound shopping and cinema complex.”
He added: “Bringing a large number of workers into the heart of the city will stimulate commercial activity and create a buzz of people which will be of real benefit the City of Perth.”
Councillors held meetings at the Dewar’s Centre while work was on-going at the High Street premises, while waste services, roads, parking and other departments were moved to Pullar House.
Council bosses said the move would save money and energy costs, while allowing the public to access services more easily.
In March, council leader Ian Miller defended the refurbishment scheme against critics who claimed it was a vanity project.
He said: “The work provides an opportunity to modernise the council chambers by creating a ground floor level flexible space which is more accessible and welcoming to members of the public who wish to attend council meetings.”
Mr Miller added: “The work at 2 High Street forms part of the larger Perth office programme, which aims to reduce the number of city centre offices occupied by the council.
“It will save money on leases and energy costs and allow customers to access services more easily.”
