Will Rose Street Foundry bar's new operators keep mosaics?
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With the Rose Street Foundry pub in Inverness set to reopen in the new year, The Inverness Courier has discovered that some correspondence linked to the premises considered the future of mosaics harking back to its past.
The mosaics, which adorn the exterior of the B-listed building, were restored as part of a multimillion-pound investment in the Academy Street property.
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Built during 1893-95, Cairngorm Taverns purchased the historic yet dilapidated B-listed building in 2013 and restored it with the support of Inverness Heritage Trust plus its own investment totalling £2.2 million.
The Inverness Townscape Heritage Project – which includes funding from the Highland Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) via the Inverness City Heritage Trust (ICHT) – provided a grant of more than £1 million towards the total cost of renovations, which included the restoration and reinstatement of the decorative mosaics.
A freedom of information request to Highland Council revealed discussion in June 2023 centring on the mosaics.
It is unclear if the interested tenant referred to in the exchanges is Rio Sol, which is set to reopen the premises in the new year.
An email exchange saw Samantha Faircliff, managing director of Cairngorm Brewery, state to the council's Alison Tanner: "As you know, we have been looking to find a new tenant for 96 Academy Street through Graham and Sibbald. Since putting the lease on the market we have had a few enquiries but we wanted to ensure that we find the right tenant who will a) appreciate the building and its restoration but also b) a tenant that is reputable and will take a 10-year lease.
"We tried very hard to make it work as Cairngorm Brewery running it ourselves but it needs a chef who is an entrepreneur to have any chance of making it profitable – this is what we now realise.
"One of the challenges and common themes for any potential tenant is the question of the mosaics on the frontage and whether this can be covered so that they can advertise their own name rather than the mosaics being on display.
"We met someone yesterday and tried to convince them that the mosaics were part of the building rather than being a sign to advertise the name of the business as no business will be called Rose Street Foundry and Engineering Company Limited!
"We have a potential tenant that we would like to support to use the building as we originally planned with a bar downstairs and a fine dining restaurant upstairs."
In further correspondence, Ms Faircliff stated they were "over the moon" to find the mosaics before saying "it would be a real shame to cover them up again", so was keen to know whether other signage would be possible.
It prompted the council's Andrew Puls to message some fellow local authority colleagues, stating: "Just taking the owner out of the conversation – the fascia is clearly an important component part of the listed building, but equally I can see why it may be an issue for any prospective tenant.
"This is a case where we need to be fairly pragmatic in order to get the building back into use. I’d be happy to look at a range of options to accommodate new signage alongside the existing; I wouldn’t be opposed to a suitably designed hanging sign on one (possibly both) of the outer pilasters and using discrete and well-designed vinyls on the windows may be an option.
"Any change, internal or external, would require PP [planning permission] and LBC [listed building consent] (and presumably advertisement consent). It may be beneficial for the owner to get formal pre-app advice which could give them (and any possible tenant) comfort/certainty in knowing what additional signage could be supported on the building."
In reply, colleague Alan Webster, the council's programme manager (growth investment), stated: "The covering of the mosaics would not be acceptable from a grant funding perspective. The restoration of this feature was treated as public realm by funders. As such the grant intervention rate was 100 per cent and the restoration cost just over £200,000. Any negative impact on the mosaic would result in the council being subject to grant clawback from funders. This in turn would trigger the council seeking to recover Inverness Townscape Heritage grant from Cairngorm Taverns."
Later correspondence from Ms Faircliff stated: "I have just had an email which is much relief from our side – having slept on it, after my sales pitch that the frontage was part of the history of such an iconic building, the potential tenants see the value in keeping the mosaics on the frontage. We are glad about this as if they hadn’t agreed to keep them, it would have been a deal breaker for us (having slept on it)."
Originally made by Craven Dunnill Jackfield, the mosaics were restored by the Mosaic Restoration Company and reinstalled at Rose Street Foundry in March 2019.
At the time, Gary Bricknell, of the Mosaic Restoration Company, said: “It’s been great to be part of such an important project for Inverness and the icing on the cake is seeing the mosaics in place, back in their original home.
"When working on a building such as this, which dates back to 1893, it’s incredibly rewarding to see it restored to its former glory.”
In response to this article, a spokesman for Rose Street Foundry stated: "We are very proud and excited to be reopening and as the new custodians of the building which holds a place in many hearts in Inverness alongside having an incredible history we shall be honouring the heritage and protecting the character of the place. The mosaics are an integral part of the history and they are a feature point which we shall not be changing. Thanks to everyone for their kind words and support on the news of us reopening. Here's to a fantastic future and creating a wonderful welcoming place full of heritage, fun, great food and entertainment."
