The state-of-the-art building, which is expected to open during Scotland's Year of Homecoming in 2009, will enable Highland Council to showcase archives of world significance.

Nine staff from the council's registration service will also relocate from Moray House to the new centre where the ceremony suite will accommodate marriage ceremonies and civil partnerships.

Council convener Sandy Park cut the first turfs on a site next to the all-weather pitch and Floral Hall.

"This new Highland Archive and Registration Centre is crucial to the development of the council's archive service throughout the Highlands and will allow for the return of archives currently held in Edinburgh," he said.

This had not been possible previously because premises occupied by the Highland Archive Service did not meet the standards required by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland.

"With the co-location of the Registrar of Births, Marriages, Civil Partnership and Deaths and a dedicated Family History Centre in the building available to the public, this will prove an invaluable resource to genealogy tourism in Scotland's Year of Homecoming 2009 and beyond," Councillor Park commented.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has provided £4.3 million while the balance has been met by the council through the Highland 2007 legacy capital funding programme.

Highland Council convener Sandy Park gets ready to cut the first turf on the new Archive Centre at the Bught. Gary Anthony

The construction contract has been awarded to Morrison Construction. It has been designed by Forres-based LDN Architects in partnership with Ove Arup & Partners, AF Cruden Associates, and Torrance Partnership.

Colin McLean, Heritage Lottery Fund's manager for Scotland, said the ceremony was an exciting milestone in the cultural development of the Highlands.

"The Highland Archive and Registration Centre is a very necessary project if we are to save the fascinating material that exists in the region," he said.

"It is certain to become a hub for Scots descendants across the world as they search out their roots."

The centre will feature environmentally-controlled repositories, providing the correct conditions for the storage of parchment, paper and records in other formats.

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