Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Elgin’s Grant Lodge to be given new lease of life

Cooper Park Grant Lodge
Cooper Park Grant Lodge

An historic Moray building could be given a new lease of life as a boutique hotel or a community arts venue.

Other suggestions for breathing fresh life into Grant Lodge in Elgin’s Cooper Park include converting it into a care centre for older people or a cafe.

A group set up to try to plot a new future for the 18th century building is also asking for local people’s views on the prospect of developing the lodge and park in tandem.

It was the base for the town’s library but has lain empty and boarded-up since a fire in 2003.

Campaigners have repeatedly criticised Moray Council for not doing anything to renovate the site in the 11 years since the blaze.

But in May, they accepted that the £3million which would be needed to restore it would have to be found outwith the region.

The local authority is struggling to balance its budget and has had to make a series of unpopular spending cuts.

The Scottish Government has designated 2017 the year of innovation, architecture and design, and campaigners hope extra grants could be available then for projects such as Grant Lodge.

A working group was formed in May to investigate a number of possible uses for the Georgian, B-listed building.

An exhibition is currently on display in Elgin Library which highlights the possible uses for the building and members of the public have been asked to complete questionnaires.

Campaigner and heritage enthusiast David Willox said: “It could become something like the people’s palace – a social history museum with pictures and telling the story of how Elgin folk lived.

“That could be the main part and the other bit could have a cafe and rooms to let, if somebody had the vision and foresight to do something with it.

“The more we leave it empty, rotting away and deteriorating the less of an attraction it becomes.”

The group has been working closely with Moray Camera Club to gather high quality images of the building which will be used in any further consultation.

The building has already been identified in the Moray Economic Strategy and in the Elgin City for the Future Strategy as an area for economic development.

Tomorrow, Moray Council’s policy and resources committee is due to discuss the progress being made on plans for future uses of the lodge.

Grant Lodge was designed by renowned Scottish architect Robert Adam in 1750.

Along with Cooper Park, the building was donated to the people of Elgin by the wealthy Cooper family more than a century ago.