AN OPPORTUNITY to improve the setting of Perth Concert Hall has been missed, according to one local man.
James Cormie, of Craiglea Road, maintains that the plan to convert a vacant building in Mill Street into a hotel should have incorporated the demolition of an eyesore element.
“I am deeply disappointed to note from the planning application lodged by Deanway Muir Ltd and Premier Hotels Ltd that Perth and Kinross Council, in putting up for sale the former Pullars Building at 7 21 Mill Street, Perth, did not take the opportunity to exclude from the sale the 1930s brick extension at the east end of the building,” he said.
“It is totally out of character with the rest of the structure and destroys the elegant balance of the original building.
“Moreover, its removal would have greatly helped to improve the setting of the concert hall, which is cramped and overshadowed by it.
“It would also have afforded an opportunity to provide some green landscaping to a site which is unrelentingly bleak, hard and cold as a result of the complete lack of any trees or other planting following the unnecessary destruction of the beautiful cherry trees which formerly flourished beside the adjoining Museum and Art Gallery.
“Has this council absolutely no appreciation of the heritage of Perth’s built environment?”
The £5 million plan for an 83-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and restaurant, which will create 40 jobs, has been widely welcomed.
At the time it was announced, Perth and Kinross Council leader Ian Miller was among the people praising the plans.
He said: “This proposed development will bring jobs to Perth, regenerate this building which occupies a key position in our city, and also add to the vibrancy of Perth city centre.”
Dating to 1865, the building is part of the former Pullar’s dyeworks complex, which for practical reasons was sited next to the town lade.
Stretching between the Kinnoull Street multi-storey car park and the concert hall, the building has lain empty since the Department for Work and Pensions shut in 2005.
rburdge@thecourier.co.uk