Old Forfar Mart buildings are at the centre of transformation plan into a children’s nursery.
The Market Street site was once part of the bustling mart complex near Forfar Athletic’s Station Park.
It was also earmarked for a £1million pound Angus archives project more than 20 years ago.
But now a proposal has been lodged to turn the three-storey buildings into a nursery and after-school facility.
Recently submitted plans to Angus Council by local businesswoman K Pirie show the nursery stretching across three floors.
Those include large wrap-around care and play areas at all levels.
There would be toilets on each floor. And the proposals also incorporate quiet and sensory rooms as well as kitchen, dining and office space.
The property has been vacant for a number of years.
Register of Scotland records show it was sold for £46,500 in August 2022.
Angus Council will make a decision on the nursery application in due course.
Livestock sales at Forfar Mart ceased in 2023 following a slump in business.
The other mart buildings, including the Strathmore Hall, were bought by local firm A M Phillip.
Planning permission was subsequently granted for conversion to a vehicle preparation centre.
Archives plan for mart building
In 2002 Angus Council brought forward a plan to turn the mart building into a home for centuries of local history.
The MART (Museums Archives and Records Trove) would have become a heritage study centre.
But the plan foundered when an £800,000 lottery fund application was unsuccessful.
It led to the Angus archives being moved to a leased facility at Restenneth.
Last month, councillors agreed they will be transferred to Arbroath library under a £290k relocation plan.
The library will relocate to Arbroath’s Saltire Leisure Centre for the six-month duration of the project.
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