Demolition work begins on historic Rose Street Hall in Inverness
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Work appears to have begun to demolish a historic building in the heart of Inverness.
Rose Street Hall, between Farraline Park bus station and Rose Street, is subject to a demolition warrant, news which surprised residents of the city, many of whom were unaware that permission to demolish the building was in place.
The building is not listed and has stood mostly vacant since the Covid pandemic struck.
The backpackers hostel that occupied part of the building never reopened its doors after the pandemic and the Station News shop closed its doors at the end of last month.
A demolition warrant for the building is in force until December 12.
The site is owned by SRP Inverness, which is behind plans for a new hotel on land immediately opposite the hall and next to the Spectrum Centre. It was the applicant which successfully secured the demolition warrant for Rose Street Hall back in 2020.
The Courier reported on more of the background to the site last month.
The hotel application was approved in November 2020 with an archaeology report dated April 2019 explicitly stating "Rose Street Hall will be renovated and incorporated into the new build" on the other side of the road.
A subsequent building demolition order, separate to that application, suggested the company's intentions to retain the hall in some way had by that point changed.
The sentence containing the phrase "Rose Street Hall will be renovated and incorporated into the new build" was also removed from an updated archaeology report submitted in 2023.
