The Project
The Merkinch Welfare Hall was originally built in 1914. Over one hundred years later, it is now the subject of an ambitious community-led Heritage Lottery Funded project. The project aims to restore the building to its former glory, creating a gym and changing rooms on the ground floor (for the Inverness City Boxing Club) and a community support centre on the first floor. The project will bring a significant building back into productive use, once again well maintained, well used and fit for the future, making a positive contribution to the local community. The transformation of the Merkinch Welfare Hall into a building 'fit for the future' has begun!
The building had been suffering from dry rot as a result of ongoing water penetration and was put on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. Thanks to the intervention of Merkinch Enterprise, a feasibility study was commissioned from the Highland Buildings Preservation Trust to find a new use for the derelict Merkinch Welfare Hall. The outcome of this work has resulted in the Merkinch Welfare Hall ‘Fit for the Future’ project and a £1.2m building contract is currently underway to restore this listed building to its former glory.
Objectives
The objectives are to:
- To restore Merkinch Welfare Hall
- To return the building to a viable and sustainable economic use
- To contribute to the regeneration of the Merkinch
- To contribute to the economic and social well being of the Merkinch community
- To enhance understanding of the significance of Merkinch Welfare Hall
Once complete the Merkinch Welfare Hall will provide a new home for the Inverness City Boxing Club and the Merkinch Partnership.
This project could not have happened without the generous support of our funders:
Heritage Lottery Fund, Inverness City Heritage Trust, Highland Council, Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Inverness Robertson Trust, Maple Trust and the Architectural Heritage Fund.
