AN A-listed landmark building in the Royal Mile is being allowed to go to rack and ruin, Old Town campaigners warned today.
The former tourist information centre at Tron Kirk has had its windows smashed in and been boarded up since it was closed by the city council a year ago.
Plans to create a new visitor centre, cabaret club and restaurant have stalled as the cost o
f the project has doubled, leaving the council with a budget shortfall of £1 million.
The tourism centre's former operator, Black Hart Entertainment, leased the building from the council and was told to leave last October.
The Edinburgh company's director, Jan-Andrew Henderson, said: "We were told by the council that planning permission was being sought to restore and develop the site, and our lease was not going to be renewed only two weeks before we had to leave.
"To begin with, the council said that we could continue to lease the Tron Kirk on a month-by-month basis. However, we were later told the developers wanted to excavate the site and we had to leave before planning permission had even been approved.
"During the last year, nothing seems to have happened in terms of development and the Old Town has been left without an information centre and public amenities for locals and tourists.
"The council should have had plans and funding in place before closing down the Tron and losing the information service."
The council's development plans were approved despite objections from heritage groups. But the proposed development has stalled as costs have spiralled.
Bill Cowan, of the Old Town Association, called on the council to ditch the plans and restore the building as a public amenity and tourist information centre.
He said: "The amount of money to restore the Kirk is relatively small compared with the millions we spend on events to put Edinburgh on the international stage.
"We were appalled by the plans to build a mezzanine level and turn it into a café and gift shop. We don't need another café and we disapprove of this set pattern of developing ancient monuments.
"We need a community resource and we need public amenities. The city council is very short on public conveniences.
"It's totally inadequate, especially on the High Street, all because the Council is too stingy to pay for an attendant.
"We like the idea of the Old Town Information Centre. We think it is a good idea. Public toilets are a good idea. We would like the building to be preserved in the size and shape it is."
A council spokeswoman said: "The project was programmed to start in January this year.
"Unfortunately, due to unexpectedly high increases in construction cost inflation, various funding sources are now being reconsidered.
"In addition, a value engineering exercise is being carried out to ensure that best value is achieved in all aspects of the project."
The full article contains 496 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
