Plans for a £3.7million replacement for a disability centre that was destroyed in a blaze in Aberdeen have taken a step closer.
The Burnside Day Centre in Mastrick Drive burned down in February last year after 60 firefighters battled for more than 16 hours to extinguish the flames.
The site had been disused since 2010 when it was closed due to Aberdeen City Council spending cuts.
Now the local authority is inviting contractors to create a new centre on the land, complete with a cafe and sensory garden.
The unit will cater for 80 adults with learning difficulties who currently use the nearby Rosehill Day Centre.
It is understood it will also be open to disabled people who were originally displaced when Burnside closed in 2010.
The contract says: “The works comprise of a new, state of the art day care centre capable of promoting social inclusion to replace an existing facility which is to be closed.
“The building is expected to meet a high quality of design together with a high technical and operational performance and will be designed and constructed to minimise energy consumption.”
A spokeswoman for Aberdeen City Council said: “This notice is an invitation to any interested parties to express an interest ahead of the tender process, which would take place at a later date.”
Alastair Williamson, the chairman of Aberdeen City Council’s Disability Advisory Group, said: “It’s good to be moving forward to finally having something on the site again, providing of course that it has all the facilities a disabled person could need, and caters to a wide enough range of disabilities.”
However, he added: “It’s also strange that the council are seeking to create a day centre, as they have been adamantly against them in the past.
“We will have to wait and see what the place will actually look like and what will really be there for the disabled community.”