A derelict Moray nightclub that looked poised for a new lease of life after being offered at auction has gone back on the market.
Hopes were raised last week that the former Jailhouse club could be redeveloped when it received an offer after being placed under the hammer at a sale in Edinburgh.
The capital-based Wilsons auctioneer firm had reduced the asking price on the fire-damaged venue from £35,000 to £29,000 in an effort to lure potential buyers.
And the move appeared to have been a successful one, when it emerged that a developer had approached its owner with a view to taking it on.
However, the negotiations hit a stumbling block, and The Jailhouse will now return to auction on Thursday, July 28.
Yesterday, Wilsons confirmed that the parties “couldn’t come to a deal”.
The company’s property department executive, Cheryl McAulay, added: “It will be going back for sale later this month, but I’d like to stress the tremendous opportunity for development it offers.”
She said that the owner of the building, William McBey, would carry out some research on the grants that may be available to help revamp the decaying former nightspot.
The Elgin Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (Cars) has previously said that it could help cover 50% of the renovation costs.
Project officer, Kirsty Conti, said the original building remained structurally safe, and could be improved on.
The Jailhouse was open for only 18 months in the late 1990s before a fire tore through it and forced it to close in 1998.
The club was designed to resemble an American penitentiary, with cells and iron bars.
The dancefloor even featured an electric chair, which was put to use every night as it performed mock executions on a dummy prisoner.
It has lain stagnant for almost 20 years, but its owners are hopeful that it could soon be resurrected.
They believe its best hope for renovation is as a student accommodation complex, and have commissioned a design team with drawing up a blueprint of how its three storeys could house 40 rooms.
It has been suggested that it could also be revived as a nightclub, or turned into a block of apartments.
