A town councillor says Forfar’s former Chapelpark Primary School building is sliding towards decay.
For over two years the Academy Street building has lain empty since the doors closed after Chapelpark was replaced as part of a multi-million-pound Forfar/Carnoustie schools project.
Various options were mooted for the site but all were subsequently ruled out on a variety of feasibility grounds and the school was then put on the market with a £250,000 price tag.
With a Grade 1 listed central pavilion, the main Chapelpark building is likely to prove a complex and potentially expensive development prospect, and Forfar SNP councillor Glennis Middleton now fears the school will be “left to rot.”
Mrs Middleton said there was also growing concern over the state of the Chapelpark site and although Angus Council has said it will be tackling the weeds growing extensively around the buildings, the councillor believes that issue should have been tackled sooner.
“The Chapelpark situation has been discussed at the community council and I have also asked on numerous occasions whether there has been any interest in the buildings,” she said. “The difficulty is that every note of interest in the school is not an offer to purchase, and I think the potential for development involving private developers is, in the current climate, not just limited but probably non-existent.
“Chapelpark would need a developer with significant resources and that may make it very difficult to make this a viable project.”
She said even if the property was converted into housing, the restricted state of the mortgage market might place further pressure on prospective housebuyers and that may also influence the development viability.
“I think the council has missed a trick here because that beautiful building could have been made into a useful premises. There was a museum/library option which was looked into, and it could have also served a number of other uses.
“But here we sit, some time on, and to my knowledge there has been no serious interest in the building. We have a beautiful, iconic building which seems to me is being left to rot, and that to me is unacceptable.”
A cultural hub, involving relocation of Forfar library, was one use considered by the authority following the closure of the primary. Forfar and Area Partnership also had high hopes the old academy could fill a 21st century role as a community centre, but the scale of the project ruled out that plan.
“In my opinion this seems to be a council that can find money when it really wants to,” she said. “We have £10 million for Montrose swimming pool and, recently, £500,000 for the West Links at Arbroath, neither of which were in any legally committed plan.
“I would hope that the council might be able to find some money for something here, because once again Forfar seems to be at the bottom of the pile.”
A spokesman for Angus Council said, “There has been interest expressed in the former Chapelpark school building, which is surplus to council requirements, but it currently remains up for sale at offers over £250,000.
“Contractors were recently instructed to undertake grounds maintenance work at the property and this will be done soon.”