Ambitious new Inverness pub would feature axe-throwing if plans before Highland Council are approved
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Axe-throwing could be the surprise feature of a new three-floor pub proposed for Inverness city centre.
The venture on Academy Street, if approved, would enable bar customers to sling axes at targets in a games room set away from the bar and planned self-service beer taps.
Axe-throwing is a pursuit which has gained popularity, and while it has stirred some controversy elsewhere in the UK and USA, it is now widely acknowledged to be a safe, heavily controlled pastime.
It is undertaken on the premises before alcohol is consumed and takes place in closed cages, with only one person allowed in at any time. Real axes are hurled tomahawk-style at a wall target under close staff supervision.
The ambitious Inverness proposal would fill currently vacant premises at 27-31 Academy Street, formerly occupied by Ponden Home Interiors, which closed more than two years ago.
The business partner applicants are Taran Campbell and David Montgomery, the entrepreneurs behind Infinity Trampoline with an outlet at Telford Retail Park in Inverness and another in Cardiff.
They are asking for planning permission for a change of use from current restaurant approval to bar use.
The application before Highland Council planners also features open-air terraces with seating.
On the ground floor, entered from Academy Street, there would be a bar and activities including darts, pool, arcade games and shuffleboard - a game using cues and weighted discs on a narrow court.
Also featured on the ground floor would be a kitchen, cellar, storerooms, an office, staff toilets and a dumb waiter hatch serving three floors.
On the first floor, there would be axe-throwing, self-service beer taps, an event area, customer toilets, beer pong, table tennis and a second bar.
On the second floor, there would be a third bar with an open-air terrace with customer seating and a 60-person limit, as well as event space in a pitched roof.
Former occupants Ponden Home Interiors, part of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, closed when the parent firm went into administration in 2020.
It was rescued the following year by Purepay Retail and now operates at Holm Woolen Mill on Dores Road.
The Academy Street building, covering in total 5,705 square feet of shop floor, was sold in the last few years, having been listed as having a value of £375,000.
