Council to discuss two proposals to save Perth City Hall

The building could be demolished if a development plan is not agreed

Two proposals to save Perth's demolition-threatened City Hall are to be considered by councillors.

The long-running debate over the future of the B-listed building could finally be decided by Perth and Kinross Council next week.

A meeting of the full council will discuss two bids, which re-imagine the hall as either a luxury hotel or an indoor food market and community hub.

Experts hired by the council have recommended backing the market plan.

Demolition plans are on hold until the redevelopment proposals are considered.

The Edwardian building, which dates back to 1911, was closed 10 years ago after a modern new concert hall was opened in the city.

The council wanted to demolish it to make way for a new civic square, and hoped Historic Scotland would withdraw its objection to this plan if no firm plans for redevelopment could be agreed.

Councillors agreed exactly a year ago to publicly market a 125-year lease for the hall to finally settle whether a realistic alternative to demolition exists.

The B-listed Edwardian hall dates back to 1911, but has been disused since 2005

Five bids were received, but only two were found to be compliant with guidelines.

One is a £4.8m proposal from the Seventy Group, previously backed by city planners, to convert the building into a 32-room hotel, with a rooftop bar and restaurant open to the public.

The other, from Perth Market Place Ltd to use the main hall as a food hall and the lesser hall as a community space for hire, had been rejected by experts at an earlier draft stage. Redevelopment would cost £2.7m, with backing from Market Place Europe and Groupe Geraud, Europe's largest investor and operator of specialist markets.

'Significant weakness'

In a report to councillors, independent firm Jones Laing LaSalle recommended choosing the marketplace bid, which they said was far more detailed than the one they had previously advised against accepting.

They said the chief difference between the bids was that Seventy Group proposed to pay a nominal £1 a year in rent, while Perth Market Place Ltd offered to pay £20,000, plus 7.5% of their annual turnover above that sum.

They also said that the Seventy Group proposal had only outlined 65% of the required funding, which was a "significant weakness" of the hotel bid.

If councillors give their backing to either proposal, council officers will be instructed to agree lease terms with the preferred bidder for approval at a later meeting.

Officers noted that "an element of risk will require to be borne by the council until a lease is signed" should a chosen plan fall through.

Independent experts reporting to the council backed plans to turn the hall into a food market