Precious bust worth £1.4 million in frame to save Invergordon Town Hall in Easter Ross
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A LIFELINE has been thrown to a deteriorating landmark in the heart of an Easter Ross town.
The prospect of listed Invergordon Town Hall being sold was considered by councillors who instead agreed to defer a decision for six months.
Solutions now in the mix include the possible sale of a bust listed in the common good fund and valued at £1.4 million or the identification of other funding sources to bring it back up to scratch after years of neglect.
The prospect of the Invergordon Common Good Fund asset being sold off had previously spurred failed local efforts to put together a business case for a revamp.
The phased revamp of the old Picture House in nearby Tain – for which a number of funding streams were identified – has fuelled hope for the Invergordon High Street landmark.
Cromarty Firth councillor, Mike Finlayson, said: “I know a lot of work has been done to get funding but since then, just recently since Covid, we are now awash with money and certainly there are lot of funds that have come to fruition.”
He referenced Crown Estates funding and town centre development funds amongst them. He also questioned how much had been spent on revamping Inverness Town House.
Cllr Derek Louden said: “What I am afraid we are doing here is abrogating ourselves from any responsibility for maintaining the hall and we can’t do that. The Local Government Scotland Act 1973 gave Highland Council the responsibility for looking after common good assets. If this asset has been reduced to a state where the only prospect for it is that it be sold off immediately, well how did it get into such a poor state of repair?
“It happened in the period since then, because the council hasn’t looked after it, because assets outside Inverness don’t appear to be accepted in any way the duty of the council to look after.
“I am assuming it is a listed building and if it is a listed building then we should have maintained it.
“There is another asset, which I don’t think the community is desperate to retain, so can we spend six months investigating the chances of raising funds from the sale of the bust or from other sources?”
The marble bust, which is valued at £1.4 million, was created by 18th century French artist Edme Bouchardon in 1728 and is currently believed to be in storage. Its possible sale is also likely to spark debate and has been mooted in the past.
Cllr Pauline Munro worried that she was being “hard” about the issue, saying that perhaps it is only realistic to look at disposing of the building but she was not opposed to trying again.
