Montrose volunteers rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in to an impressive display of community spirit at the weekend.
Around 30-40 volunteers answered a “DIY SOS” from the team behind the Montrose Playhouse Project and set about transforming the town’s former swimming pool.
The group is working to create a three-screen cinema and community hub in the old pool building and had called on locals to come along and give any practical help they could provide.
Saturday’s crew threw themselves into the task of tearing down walls, clearing residual water from the pool and removing unwanted fittings.
David Paton, founder of the project, said: “People have got a lot of memories from this building so we decided to keep as much of it as we can.
“We are really excited to get started. It’s very ambitious, but when you see all these people here you see there is a need for it. We thought it would be an ideal place for a cinema.
“It’s all go. This is community spirit at its finest.”
The group secured the building from Angus Council for just £1 after it had lain empty for about five years.
However, the price for carrying out the work will be considerably more so leaders are keen to enlist the community to save costs wherever possible.
Fundraising efforts have so far brought in £12,372 for the first stages of the construction project.
Steven Johnston and Sam Williamson were among the first to step up with £2,000 they raised at a Kiltwalk charity event.
Mr Paton also expressed his gratitude to the many local companies which have supported the endeavour, including Pert Bruce Construction, Drain Dogs, Candy’s John D Crawford Architects and Unicorn Cleaning Services.
The DIY SOS strip-out event will run over several weekends and a full week in December so volunteers can come and go whenever they can spare the time.
One of the more difficult aspects of the work will be removing the diving board as it goes several metres under the flooring so contracted workers will be brought in to complete that job.
Mr Paton said it was difficult to put a timescale on when the project would be completed but he has set a goal of December 2019.
