Entrance to Victorian Market to get facelift

WORK could begin on the Victorian Market’s makeover as early as January.

Highland Council has submitted planning applications to improve the appearance of the Academy Street entrance to the complex, which dates back to 1869.

The plans involve bringing the glazed screen closer to the street in order to improve visibility into the market.

The local authority says this will make the site more accessible, as well as improving security by reducing the number of access points on Academy Street to one.

An uplighting system is also set to be installed in order to highlight the historic architecture of the building, and signage will be removed to “return historic integrity to the Academy Street facade.”

The project marks the first stage of an action plan, which is being implemented by the council and the Inverness Common Good Fund, which is also set to build a business case for the remodelling of the market hall.

No timescale for the completion of the work has yet been finalised, but an application for a grant of £30,250 has been submitted to the Inverness Townscape Heritage project.

The news of the redevelopment came just days after traders in the Queensgate Arcade section of the market spoke of their struggle to deal with ongoing issues with the complex roof.

Businesses in the privately-owned section of the building have been forced to take action to deal with repeated leaks which have at times forced them to close.

Toni Rutherford, of the Little Teapot cafe, believes businesses in the market need help to deal with the problem.

“It is really frustrating for us that this problem keeps reappearing,” she said.

“It’s not good, especially when you walk into the arcade and see all the buckets.

“It’s not a good impression for customers.

“We understand that there will be issues with the age of the building but that’s all the more reason to take care of it, especially if people are wanting to make all these improvements to the building.

“Three quarters of the building is owned by the council but the section we are in is privately owned.

“That means that any issues with the roof in our section have to be dealt with by us as traders.

“There have been times where we have had to close because of it. We have had waterfalls coming into the tearoom while customers have been in.

“Although different sections of the building are owned by different people we are all under one roof, so we feel there should be some help available for the situation.

“Everyone in the building needs to come together to get the problem solved.”

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