Inverness Town House gets Wi-Fi and Highland Council report shows it cost almost £1m
Highland Council has said £980,000 has been invested in installing Wi-Fi in Inverness Town House in a bid to make it commercially viable as a multi-functional venue – something it wants to check with a feasibility study.
The cash itself is likely to have come not directly from the local authority but from the Common Good Fund that is administered by the council – the same fund ploughed in £7.4 million into the maintenance of the building.
The issue was featured in an official report to the Inverness committee yesterday as councillors discussed the investment and development of the Town House as a viable commercial earner for the Common Good Fund.
The paper stated: “The Town House has seen significant investment in its infrastructure following the £7.4 million renovation project” – which has won acclaim for preserving the Category A-listed building.
It continued: “Wi-Fi has been installed at a cost of £0.98 million and non-structural works have been undertaken to enable occupation by a number of third-party tenants to the rear of the building.”
Even given the fact that it is a Category A-listed building which would require additional measures to preserve its integrity, the cost of close to £1 million for Wi-Fi does seem high.
Despite taking the decision to vacate the building for official meetings and other council business almost two years ago it has only just decided to launch a feasibility study on the medium to long term options for the use of the building.
That study aims to understand “the potential market” while “identifying the requirements to deliver different commercial options” and delivering an outline business case that considers the risks and challenges to the Common Good Fund.
Among the other measures is the launch of a new website www.theinvernesstownhouse.co.uk to promote bookings for weddings, private functions, corporate meeting rooms and civic events.
The website has a reasonably detailed photo gallery that “allows viewers to immerse themselves in the opulent interior and history of the Town House” while what’s-on listings show public events that are scheduled.
The council’s Inverness leader Ian Brown said: “Since the property ceased to be used by the Highland Council as council offices, work has been progressing well on the development of this key Common Good Fund asset to ensure that it continues to play a productive role into the future while remaining a fully functioning base for civic events.
“I am pleased to see the ongoing works to secure new tenants in the Town House including Police Scotland, HiTrans, Social Security Scotland, Ream Properties and the Larsen & Ross Group along with Highland Council retaining its Service Point presence in the building.
“Investment in Wi-Fi and non-structural works have enabled these third parties to enter into lease agreements and the Town House continues to be advertised for office space lets.”
