A Perth businessman has unveiled plans that would see the City Hall used for student accommodation and “put the heart back into the building”.
John Bryden, the man behind the Ice Factory, That Bar, the Loft, the Tavern and Roca Blu is keen to stress that his proposal is for a “hall for the community” and is not motived by a desire to expand his existing business empire.
“We have got two nightclubs there is no way it is going to be a nightclub,” said Mr Bryden.
He envisages the main hall used for events as it was in the past everything from concerts to banquets to boxing and fashion shows while a radical new use of the lesser hall as student accommodation would form the “financial backbone” of his plan.
The inclusion of 26 student bedsits came to him after Perth College UHI made a plea for much-needed accommodation and he saw an opportunity to deliver a financially-viable proposal.
While as a businessman he would be looking for the venture to make a “modest profit” he says money is not his motivation to save the Edwardian building.
He said: “I am passionate about Perth City Hall. I was born and brought in Perth and attended many events from school prizegivings to wrestling and dances there.
“It is also a beautiful building in a fantastic site.”
For more on this story, see Friday’s Perth edition of The Courier.