Proposals to breathe new life into an historic court building have hit a stumbling block.
Stonehaven Town Partnership (STP) was poised to take over the town’s sheriff court building on the condition that it had enough funds to carry out the necessary works to bring the facility back into use.
The B-listed building, which closed its doors in May 2014, still belongs to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS), who has agreed to transfer ownership.
However, the group’s funding bid to Heritage Lottery Fund was unsuccessful and it is now seeking £85,000 from other sources.
STP chairman David Fleming said the money is essential if they are to renovate the building.
And he confirmed the group had already began applying for other funding opportunities, which it expects to hear back from by August.
“Before we can set foot in the building there’s quite a lot of relatively straight forward repairs that need done, decoration and other things to make it fit for use,” he said.
“It will be used for community organisations to work together for the benefit of people in Stonehaven.”
Mr Fleming said he would have to remain tight-lipped over the organisations that would be using the building, but said they had one “anchor tenant”.
The STP has also received letter from intents from other smaller tenants, and is open to applications from other groups.
Meanwhile, the SCTS has said it was unaware the group’s funding application had been unsuccessful.
A spokesman said: “SCTS’s consideration of a transfer of ownership of the former Stonehaven court house to the trust is conditional upon the viability and demonstration of funding to support that business case.
“SCTS has not been contacted by the trust regarding the progress or otherwise of their application.”
Anyone who wishes to inquire about moving into the building should contact projects@stpweb.org
