Woods and Timberlake told to preserve historic paintings during St Andrews cinema conversion

Golf legend Tiger Woods and music superstar Justin Timberlake have been asked to preserve historic paintings within St Andrews cinema.

The duo want to turn the New Picture House in North Street into a ‘unique’ bar and restaurant in the town famed for being the home of golf.

Woods and Timberlake, who already operate a bar under the T-Squared Social name in New York, are keen to bring their brand to Scotland.

And they plan to spend £2 million converting the B-listed cinema.

A planning report welcomes the bid, which retains two of the three cinema screens.

But it raises concerns about the impact on the building and original paintings by Scottish artist Ada Hill Walker.

Fife Council officials also say adverts or signage on the building would have to be approved in order to ‘safeguard external character and architectural interest’.

St Andrews cinema paintings are ‘important features’

Ada Hill Walker was a famed painter based in St Andrews.

And her watercolour panels inside the cinema building were commissioned in the 1930s.

They depict local scenes such as the castle, cathedral and the cinema itself.

A consultation dossier says: “It is positive to see the intention for the building to be redeveloped in a way that allows it to remain in its original use as a local cinema.

“While we are supportive of the proposals in principle, we have the following concerns: The indicative proposed signage to the side elevations of the arcaded front on North Street covers a significantly larger area than at present.

“This would have a detrimental impact on the architectural interest of the B-listed building, obscuring the character of its well-proportioned and finely detailed frontage which presently remains largely intact.

“The original Ada Hill Walker watercolours in the main auditorium are important decorative features that contribute to the historical and architectural interest of the listed building.

“For the avoidance of doubt, these paintings should be retained in situ to preserve this character.

“And we would welcome further details of how they will be protected as part of the proposed scheme.”

Open seven days a week

It added: “We are supportive of the sustainable reuse of the building.

“But we have concerns about some of the impacts of the scheme in its present iteration and would welcome mitigation to reduce these impacts.”

A spokesperson for T-Squared Social said: “We recognise the significance of these fabulous paintings by Ada Hill Walker.

“It was always our intent to preserve the art, which we are keen to conserve along with other elements such as the moulding.”

Woods and Timberlake plan to install sport simulators to allow guests to play 100 courses from around the world.

They would also be able to turn their hand to football, NFL, rugby, cricket and lacrosse.

The venue would be open seven days a week from 9am until midnight, extended to 1am on a Friday and Saturday.

And it is expected to generate between 40 and 45 full-time jobs.

Fife Council will issue a decision in due course.