Highland Council's Black Isle and Easter Ross area committee has approved a community asset transfer that will see Invergordon Town Hall handed to Invergordon Development Trust under a 99-year lease priced at £1 per year. According to Highland Council, the decision confirms the trust's plan to convert the underused B-listed Victorian building into a multipurpose civic hub with a cafe and exhibition space, at an estimated cost of around £2 million.
What will change inside the building?
Under the trust's proposal, the town hall would close for roughly three years while renovation work takes place, after which it would reopen and operate as a social enterprise, according to documents filed with Highland Council. The plans reportedly include installing lift access, modern toilets, a kitchen and restaurant area, and shared amenities for community use. Early feasibility costings cited in the same documents put roughly £878,712 towards primary renovation and conversion works, with a further £68,000 earmarked for conserving the building's façade.
Why was the town hall at risk?
Highland Council has spent close to a decade weighing up the future of the venue amid persistent concerns over low usage and the scale of refurbishment it required. In 2021, councillors decided the building — owned by the Invergordon Common Good Fund — should be put on the open market, a move that unsettled many residents who feared it might end up in the hands of a private developer. Because the hall forms part of the Common Good Fund, any disposal had to follow the process set out under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, and council papers note the building had previously been rented out to Highlife Highland and used by local community groups, as detailed in a Highland Council committee report.
Donna Smith, chair of Invergordon Development Trust, said losing the building was not something the community could accept easily.
It's such a prominent feature of Invergordon High Street. Many of us, including myself, remember that back in its heyday it was really a social hub.
It used to function as a cinema. I saw my first film there - the Jungle Book - when I was about five with my Dad.
The town doesn't really have another space quite like that.
She added that the trust had stepped in specifically to prevent the building's loss.
We took up the mantel of trying to save it and really what we want to do is refurbish it back to something that the town can be really proud of and that everyone can use as a civic space.
What is the building's history?
Constructed in 1871, the town hall was converted into a cinema in 1934 and later hosted bingo sessions, according to a Historic Environment Scotland building record. Film screenings ended in 1984, and the building was subsequently converted for use as an arts centre in 1988, giving it a long-standing role at the centre of Invergordon's social life across more than a century of changing use.
Black Isle and Easter Ross area committee chair, councillor Lyndsey Johnston, described the transfer as a turning point for the town.
Transferring this historic property to the Invergordon Development Trust unlocks its vast potential as a multipurpose civic hub, generating far greater social, economic, and wellbeing benefits for the town than a standard commercial lease.
What happens next?
Highland Council's community asset transfer records currently list Invergordon Town Hall among its active requests for Invergordon Development Trust, indicating that the formal transfer process is still being administratively tracked even after committee approval, according to the council's community asset transfer register. No firm start date for the renovation works has been confirmed.
Key Facts
- Invergordon Town Hall will be leased to Invergordon Development Trust for 99 years at £1 per year.
- Restoration is estimated to cost about £2 million, including roughly £878,712 for primary renovation and £68,000 for façade conservation.
- The B-listed building dates to 1871 and was used as a cinema from 1934 until 1984, then as a bingo hall and arts centre.
- The trust expects the building to close for about three years during works before reopening as a social enterprise.
- The site is owned by the Invergordon Common Good Fund, requiring the transfer to follow the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.
