Two prominent town centre buildings to be given £1million facelift

Members of Renfrewshire Council’s Leadership Board will next week consider whether to award £615,000 of funding towards the projects to revive buildings at 44 High Street and 3 County Place.

The money is available through the council-run Townscape Heritage/Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (TH/CARS2), which includes financial support to help property owners with the cost of repairing and restoring historic buildings which have fallen into disrepair.

The current TH/CARS2 scheme aims to improve the built environment in Paisley town centre and is funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and the council.

Councillors are being asked to approve a grant of up to £360,000 towards a £630,000 project of external repairs to transform a C-listed building at 3 County Place, in a highly-visible site opposite Paisley Gilmour Street train station.

Once completed, the owner plans to convert the upper floors above the existing units into four new flats.

Approval is also being sought for a grant of up to £255,000 towards a £375,000 building and shopfront improvement programme at 44 High Street, which is currently home to several businesses.

The work will also include external building repairs and new traditional shopfronts for the ground-floor units.

It would cover the whole building, apart from the middle shop unit – Uptown Barbers – which has already benefited from work funded by the TH2/CARS scheme to improve its shopfront.

Both buildings are currently in poor condition and are on the Buildings at Risk register.

44 High Street

The grants will be subject to approval by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic Environment Scotland.

Renfrewshire Council leader Iain Nicolson said: “Paisley town centre is fortunate to have a wonderful collection of historic buildings but, sadly, some of them have been allowed to fall into disrepair.

“The great work being done by the TH/CARS2 scheme is helping to change that by helping property owners bring their buildings back into use for generations to come and we thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic Environment Scotland for making that possible.

“Should these two projects be approved, they will transform the look of two prominent sites in the town, which we hope will in turn encourage others to invest.

“The building in County Place is seen by millions of rail passengers each year, so the planned work will help change first impressions of Paisley and will complement the investment the council will make to improve the look of County Square over the next couple of years.

“And the work on the top of the High Street is one of several investments being made in that area ahead of Paisley Museum reopening in 2022, which will bring 125,000 visitors a year.”

The current TH/CARS2 scheme operates in the area around Paisley's High Street, New Street and Shuttle Street and follows a successful scheme which transformed the look of the Causeyside Street area of the town in recent years.

The five-year scheme runs until 2021 and will also see a number of other building restorations, shopfront improvements and changes to streetscapes being delivered over the next year.

It is part of a wider £100m investment in Paisley town centre’s cultural venues and outdoor spaces, which includes the work to transform Paisley Museum into a world-class destination and to keep Paisley Town Hall at the heart of life in the town as a landmark entertainment venue.