May 21 2010

The Scottish Government have refused listed building consent for the partial demolition of the former Odeon Cinema on Clerk Street, Edinburgh.

Duddingston House Properties had wished to convert the vacant premises into an “Art Hotel”, but a government reporter ruled that “not all alternatives to demolition had been fully explored.”

The Scottish Government’s reporter pointed out that the category B listed auditorium (which would have been demolished) is one of the few remaining in the UK of its style and stated “the repair of the building is not economically unviable.”

Edinburgh City Council had previously argued that the developers had demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that the building was unviable in its existing form, but that decision was called in by Scottish Ministers in June 2009.

Duddingston have six weeks within which to appeal the decision at the Court of Session and will release a statement “once the report has been digested.”

12 Comments

Post your comments

Your name (required)
Your email (not displayed)
Comments (required)
	All comments are pre-moderated and must obey our house rules.