Contractor appointed to £18m transformation of landmark Highland castle with pledge to turn it into a “world-class” attraction as early as 2025
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The £18 million transformation of Inverness Castle into what is hoped will be a “world-class” attraction could open as early as 2025 after the announcement of a contractor.
Ministers, Cabinet Secretaries, MSPs, councillors and top-ranking officials from Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise turned out for confirmation that Bancon Construction got the contract.
The company recently won plaudits for their work on Wasps Inverness Creative Academy and in the next two months will start work on the sizeable job of refitting and refurbishing the 19th century building.
The investment comes from the £315 million Inverness and Highland City Region deal from the UK and Scottish governments, Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and University of the Highlands and Islands.
The castle development is one of the cornerstones of the deal aimed at stimulating sustainable regional economic growth by creating a “gateway for Highland tourism” to establish a “sustainable, viable and must-see attraction”.
Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing has worked on the project for almost a decade and described the announcement as “a milestone”.
“I've been working with the council for eight years,” he said. “From the beginning, we had no budget, the castle was occupied by the court and we had no plan. We had no consents. Now we've got planning permission, we've got consents, we've got a budget. And today we've got a principal contractor.
“The preliminary work has already been done, site clearance and so on and we now have a plan for the building which will include the viewing tower which will command the best views in the Highlands.
“Internally, we are working to convey the Spirit of the Highlands, the landscape, the people, the culture, the stories, and the aim is for it to be of high class.”
Finance secretary Kate Forbes, who is a Dingwall-based MSP, said it was important to remember that revenue generated by the castle will be spent throughout the north: “I care immensely about investment being spread across the Highlands and the investment that's being made here will, I think, open an iconic site that will draw in more tourists who so often start and finish their journeys in Inverness but the funding will be reinvested in other projects across the Highlands and that is a positive one for the region.”
Alan Clow, managing director of Bancon Construction, said the company was anxious to get started.
“We are delighted to be awarded the contract,” he said. “It's a really high-profile job in the Highlands and we have been working in the Highlands now for 45 years so we're really delighted to play a key role in turning this development into a world-class visitor centre.
“That's one of the biggest challenges here, that's it is an old building but the architects have come up with a fantastic design and we will work our way through the building and our programme is two-and-a-half years, so we will be starting in about five to six weeks.
“On a job of this scale, we will be using the local supply chain, I would expect on average, we could have 30 to 40 people a day on the site working on the project. So it's a real boost for the local economy. It's a big construction project and we are really looking forward to getting started.”
Related Story – Last chance to tour Inverness Castle before development begins
