Dunfermline is steeped in rich history and is home to some of Scotland’s most notable landmarks – including Dunfermline Abbey.
But the city also plays host to a number of eyesores.
Buildings have been left to decay, leaving concerned locals wondering what might happen to them in the future.
We are taking a closer look at the most prominent eyesores in and around Dunfermline, and what the future holds for them.
Fife Council office block
The Walmer Drive building was once used as Fife Council offices but has been vacant since 2011, and has been the target of vandalism.
A 19th-century villa sits next to the building, just yards from the Kingsgate Shopping Centre and High Street.
Plans were previously lodged to demolish both buildings to make way for a five-storey block of 42 apartments.
However, these plans were withdrawn after a fire ripped through the building in July 2023 – with firefighters tackling the blaze for nine hours.
Fresh plans for 37 new homes at the site have recently been submitted by Edinburgh-based architects Fraser/Livingstone.
If approved it will see the existing structures demolished.
St Andrew’s Erskine Church
Designed by architect David Whyte, the oldest parts of Erskine House date back to 1798.
It replaced an earlier church on the site and continued to be used as a place of worship until 1998 before being sold off.
It was then run as a soft play centre for a short time.
Several proposals for the building have not come to fruition over the years, including an application from JD Wetherspoon to turn it into a pub.
It failed to sell at auction with a guide price of £230,000 in February 2024, before going under the hammer a month later with a starting price of £99,000.
The church was purchased by the Dunfermline Redeemed Christian Church Of God, Covenant Restoration Assembly.
Plans to install solar panels and air-source heat pumps were approved in December 2024.
Lathalmond rubbish dump
Dubbed an “environmental disgrace”, mounds of commercial waste, including old carpet and plasterboard, have blighted the Lathalmond site for more than a decade.
There were repeated calls to remove the eyesore rubbish dump at the M90 Commerce Park north of Dunfermline in recent years.
The rubbish dump was left when recycling company First Option Services ceased trading in 2012.
The company that bought the land refused to clean up the site, despite the threat of court action.
However, in October 2023, Sepa announced the site had new owners who had begun a clean-up.
The watchdog said the site will be returned to commercial use by August 2030.
King Malcolm Hotel
The King Malcolm Hotel had been struggling financially for several years before its closure in 2020.
The site on Laburnum Road has sat empty since, with construction fencing surrounding the site.
Supermarket chain Lidl revealed plans to build a new store on the site of the former hotel in 2024.
However, the redevelopment proposals included the removal of 20 “long-standing trees”, a move that was criticised by the Scottish Greens.
Lidl has now submitted the plans to Fife Council and it is now awaiting validation before being advertised publicly.
St Margaret’s Works
The former St Margaret’s Works date back to 1870 and was built by Dunfermline’s largest linen manufacturers Hay and Robertson Ltd.
Weaving at the Foundry Street site stopped in 1979.
More recently the warehouse was the site of the Happit Factory Shop.
Proposals to change part of the warehouse building to form a gymnastics club were lodged by Acrobay in 2014, but the club would later renovate premises in Rosyth.
The building was marketed for some time through DM Hall but the details were removed in 2024.
Former Dobbies Garden Centre site, Dalgety Bay
The former Dobbies Garden Centre in Dalgety Bay closed its doors for the final time in 2020.
The building became a target for anti-social behaviour, with fire crews called to take a blaze at the Hillend Industrial Estate site in October 2022.
Plans were approved to convert the site into a new B&M store in 2021 – creating about 55 jobs in total.
The former garden centre was demolished in 2023, but building work is yet to commence at the site.
Old Inverkeithing Primary School
The former Inverkeithing Primary School, constructed in 1913 for the rapidly increasing population in the area, is now a major eyesore in the town.
Since closing, the building has become a repeated target for fireraisers.
The category C-listed school suffered extensive damage during a blaze in November 2018.
There have been several plans in recent years to redevelop the site for housing.
Fife Council backed a proposal for community-led regeneration of the site in December 2022.
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