Inverness Bught Park pavilion and shinty museum excitement builds as construction on the Highland facility enters latter stages
Excited city and shinty leaders have given a sneak peek inside the multimillion-pound redevelopment of Inverness’s Bught Park sports facilities.
Work is well under way to fully refurbish the grandstand at Bught Park and construct a brand-new purpose-built pavilion and shinty museum next to it.
And, with the work about to start on fitting out the pavilion interior and on target for a March or early spring completion date, the project’s leaders threw open the doors to give an early glimpse of the pavilion before its interior is kitted out.
Among those on site for the wee tour was Camanachd Association CEO, Ruari Davidson, who said he was very excited for people to see the site once it is complete - and the platform it will provide to grow shinty’s profile and audience heading into the future.
The park already has a number of top tier shinty events lined up for 2025 - including the McTavish Cup final and the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup final - and has international ambitions for the site.
And Mr Davidson added that a planned shinty museum on the ground floor of the pavilion will also help to further raise the sport’s profile with Scottish and international visitors alike.
“Obviously having a new, innovative and modern facility such as this where people within our community can come and enjoy the sport is fantastic,” he said while on a tour of the pavilion. “Part of that is the challenge for us to attract a new audience to our sport as well and talk to other parts of the community that aren't as familiar with shinty as other people - how we sell that story and we share that story. And one of the ways we'll do that is with the shinty story downstairs, the exhibition space we'll be utilising, and that'll be a great way we can tell people the very best about our sport - right through from some of its ancestral and heritage roots right through to modern day and how the sport is played by our communities.”
He was also excited about the possibilities that open up from the opening of the revamped Inverness Castle and Northern Meeting Park - both of which are also due to complete their facelifts in 2025.
“It's a great opportunity for us to work closely with Highlife Highland on connections with the castle, for example, and how we attract that new audience [at the castle] to come here and learn and understand about shinty.
“So that's what we hope the space will be. An opportunity to, in a modern and innovative environment, learn about the sport, engage in the sport, and go away hopefully converts to wanting to take part in it. It's fantastic for the city and the sport, and what we want to do is broaden that reach to the whole of that shinty community and membership. We want everyone who is part of that community.”
He continued: “We want to see every club in some way or other reflected in the museum downstairs.”
Plans for the museum’s layout and specific content are still being worked on, but Mr Davidson added that it will bring together a lot of artefacts from the sport’s history - including historical pieces about some of the balls in original games, medals accrued over a number of areas celebrating significant events, and “experiences that people can interact with”.
Cllr Ian Brown, who is leader of Inverness city and area and also co-chair of the Inverness Castle Project Delivery Group, is delighted with the progress that has been made and the buzz this and other city projects are beginning to generate.
“It’s fantastic for Inverness,” he said. “Next year is going to be a fantastic year, everything opening next year really is good. Obviously the Bught Park and Northern Meeting Park will be finished by March, the castle [in] summer, Whin Park [has had a] big investment there and Easter time there. And we've already opened the Riverside Way and we’re spending a lot of money on the swimming pool as well. For the times being so hard and tough, Inverness is doing well above its weight.”
He added that the pavilion’s purpose built museum is another highlight too as such a shrine to the sport is a “one-off as far as I know” for Scotland.
Cllr Brown was also delighted with the pavilion itself, adding: “Even this facility. When people come to major sporting events, they expect this, and they've never had this in Inverness before for a long time. So this is us bringing it up to the current century and I think it's something to be really proud of.”
He added that work on the historic grandstand would also likely delight sports fans, with its refurbishment maintaining its character and structure while also ensuring it is in perfect condition.
