£100k boost for YMCA renovation

Development Group Go Golspie is celebrating after being awarded £100,000 from the Town Centre Regeneration Fund towards the renovation of the dilapidated YMCA building in the village.

The funding will enable work to start on phase one of the project – replacing the floor and windows in the main hall and repairing the roof as well as taking down a false ceiling.

Go Golspie has previously been awarded £16,700 stage one funding from the Scottish Land Fund which has paid for a structural survey, architectural and topographical drawings and a valuation.

Negotiations are currently under way with YMCA, the current owners of the building, regarding an acquisition by Go Golspie.

A group spokesman said it intended to apply for stage two funding which would bring the hall a step closer to being in community ownership.

At some point, it is hoped to renovate the back area of the building, which comprises offices and a meeting room.

Councillor Richard Gale, who is heavily involved in the project, said: “There is a lot of work to be done but we are getting there slowly but surely. It is all positive. The good thing is that the structure of the building is sound.

“If all goes well, we could see the YMCA back in community hands by the spring of 2020. The building has a lot of potential.”

The group has received more than 250 responses to a survey regarding the future use of the property.

Cllr Gale said it was clear there was a “genuine local interest in bringing this building back to its former glory”.

It is hoped to turn it into an “inter-generational hub” for use by all community groups.

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