COUNCIL bosses are set to spend £600,000 on urgent repairs to Port Glasgow’s oldest building.

The King George VI building in King Street needs a new roof to keep it wind and watertight, as well as immediate electrical work.

A full refurbishment plan is back on the table, with the council looking at ways to raise the £1.5 million needed to fully restore the building, which dates back to 1758.

Earlier proposals to refurbish it had to be withdrawn because of funding cuts.

But now the local authority has no option but to go ahead and have the roof replaced to safeguard the building for the future.

The King Street building is part-owned by the Masonic Lodge but Inverclyde Council has sole responsibility for maintenance of the roof.

Councillors will be asked to approve £590,000 to be spent on remedial repairs, including replacement of roof trusses, sarking and slates.

Copes, gutters, skews and external fabric will be repaired and the electrics in the upper floors will be replaced. 

The propping to the upper hall will also have to be removed.
A total of £1million from the environment and regeneration budget has been set aside for the King Street building.

There were plans to restore the building and allow a local community group to take over the lease.

But detailed analysis of the structure confirmed that extra work would have to be carried out to make it safe, pushing the cost up to £1.5m.

At that point the Port Glasgow Community Group pulled out of plans to lease the building.

The environment and regeneration committee will now be asked to agree to the first phase of repairs and explore funding options to complete a full refurbishment.

A further report will be presented to the committee at a later date.

The only building in the Port older than the King George VI is Newark Castle.