Creating a Fife College campus in the centre of Dunfermline could turn around the town’s fortunes, a local businessman has said.
Alhambra Theatre owner Bill Fletcher, who also owns the derelict Duracord building in Pilmuir Street, said moving students into the former textiles factory would be a catalyst for regeneration.
Plans to relocate the Dunfermline college campus, known as Carnegie College before the formation of Fife College, have been mooted. One of the locations identified was Shepherd Offshore’s Halbeath site, formerly home to an abandoned Hyundai factory.
But town centre businesses have called for the campus to be brought into the heart of the town.
Mr Fletcher said: “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse the terminal decline of town centres by parachuting 2,000 students into that site on a daily basis.
“It would require quite a bit of political support to relocate the college into the town centre but there would be economic spin-offs for the town centre.”
On Saturday December 14 a piece of roofing felt fell from the building, causing Pilmuir Street to be closed from Saturday to Sunday afternoon. Mr Fletcher said the building has since been made secure.
He said the building, which was Pilmuir Works linen factory during Dunfermline’s manufacturing heyday, was in need of investment, after being targeted by vandals. In 2009 fireraisers caused around £500,000 of damage to the A-listed structure.
Should a Fife College proposal not materialise, Mr Fletcher has not given up on the option of redeveloping the site as an “urban village” with flats and other amenities.
Plans to transform the site into flats, retail units, a restaurant and gym were approved in 2008 but the proposal collapsed with the onset of the economic crisis.
“Obviously, the whole development was built to be complementary to Tesco,” Mr Fletcher said. “Because the store has been delayed for a number of reasons, we have put our plans on hold.
“The latest we’ve heard is Tesco may start next year so there is literally nothing we can do until that happens. We remain in touch with Tesco and I know their situation is fluid. The most recent statement said work on the Tesco store would start in March.”
Fife Council was called out to deal with the incident of fallen debris in Pilmuir Street.
Building standards and public safety service manager Neil Mitchell said: “The council have a responsibility to manage public safety concerns and emergency powers are used to ensure that any building which is deemed a danger to the public is made safe.
“We worked with the owner to ensure the necessary emergency works were carried out to remove or secure any other areas of loose roofing felt. Once we were satisfied the danger had been removed, the road was reopened.
“The owner is carrying out further checks and maintenance work and we will be working with him to ensure that we are happy with the measures he has taken to make the building secure.”
A Fife College spokeswoman said: “Fife College is committed to ensuring our students benefit from great learning facilities and we are therefore currently reviewing our estates throughout Fife.
“Any improvements or additions to our estates portfolio will involve a long-term strategy and very much depend on what money, if any, is available. Decisions made regarding the future of our estates will be made in full consultation with our students, staff and community partners to ensure that we provide the best possible facilities for our learners across Fife.
“With particular reference to the Duracord building in Dunfermline, we are not in discussions regarding the site.”
Photo byDavid Wardle