Smoke clears for Clach staff
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BLAZE-HIT Clachnacuddin hope to learn early next week when Grant Street Park can be back hosting football matches.
Early on Christmas Eve, fire tore through the club’s laundry room, causing extensive smoke damage to kit and changing rooms.
There is also evidence of a heat-buckled wall and damaged roof, but chairman Alex Chisholm said it would be impossible to gauge the full extent of renovation work needed before building assessors moved in.
That is now expected to happen early on Monday morning.
The shocking extent of blackened walls and ruined kit became apparent last weekend when fire officers first allowed Clach officials into the charred main building.
Remarkably though, Mr Chisholm said no treasured club memorabilia or trophies had been lost or damaged.
The Lilywhites have asked neighbours Caley Thistle if they can stage their next home game against Fort William on January 18 at the Caledonian Stadium.
However the SPFL club, while not ruling out the move, has expressed concern at the already poor state of their playing surface.
Mr Chisholm stressed: “We have made a formal request to move our only home January game to Caley Thistle. Realistically, that would be ideal because it would give us that four-week period of breathing space to get everything else in place.”
Highland League secretary Rod Houston has told Clach he has no objections to them using Caledonian Stadium, but ICT chief executive Scot Gardiner said: “We are very open to helping Clach and have offered training equipment. I’ve spoken to Alex and said let’s keep in touch, but we have some serious issues with our pitch down in one corner.
“While we have no game on January 18, if we draw with Alloa in the cup the replay is the following Tuesday. I cannot have the scenario where we miss a Scottish Cup replay.”
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Clach look to the future after Grant Street Park blaze
