Moves to create a new visitor centre at the foot of one of Perthshire’s most popular Munros have begun.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has applied to have the existing centre on Ben Lawers pulled down to make space for a new one “more in keeping with the mountain landscape.”
Once branded “a hideous beast that landed in the night and somehow never got off the ground again” by The Courier’s Jim Crumley, the centre was closed last year after a nationwide review of loss-making NTS-owned property.
During that process it was decided a less obtrusive building was needed in the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve, on the banks of Loch Tay, near Killin.
It was built in the early 1970s to interpret the important features of the site and encourage thousands of visitors during the summer to minimise their impact on the local environment.
After decades of exposure to the elements, the timber structure had become an ugly, run-down carbuncle.
After razing the building, NTS want to re-locate the car park to a less visible site nearby, reinstate the moorland and provide year-round, unmanned interpretation features.
Plans for the new site are being worked on with Stirling firm Ian White Associates.
NTS property manager Helen Cole said, “Ben Lawers is one of Scotland’s most popular walking destinations, with seven Munros, fabulous views over Loch Tay and a huge diversity of its plant and animal life.
“We now have an opportunity to improve provision for visitors, restoring the hillside to its former glory, and providing more modern and appropriate facilities for those who come to Ben Lawers, whether serious walkers or families on a ramble.
“An important consideration will be the impact that these new developments have on the landscape for which Ben Lawers is so well loved.”
Photos used under Creative Commons licence curtesy of Flickr users feileacan and nz_willowherb.