A £5 million regeneration project in Dalbeattie is getting back on track after being derailed by the pandemic for almost two years.
Rocks and Wheels has been stuck in the slow lane since early 2020 as lockdowns and furlough stalled progress and wrecked deadlines.
But now work on turning the former Dalbeattie Primary School into a outdoor sports centre has restarted under Dalbeattie Community Initiative.
And first job for the Rocks and Wheels steering group will be to progress acquisition of the building and land from the council under asset transfer.
DCI business manager Michelle McRobert told the News: “We totally paused the project while we put all the staff on furlough for a year.
“Before we started back up our main concern was getting the steering group comfortable about meeting up again.
“So we have just got the team back together and will be pushing hard this year and next.
“We are currently finalising the business plan with a view to moving forward the next phase, asset transfer, within the next two or three months.”
The ambitious £5 million scheme envisages a training and education centre, 60-bed hostel, main reception area, an indoor bouldering centre, cafe, commercial kitchen and a refectory for the hostel.
With Dalbeattie’s heritage in mind, existing granite buildings of the former school will be retained.
Outdoor features will include a mountain bike pump track and landscaped events space with links to the nearby forest, Ms McRobert said.
She added: “We are aiming to complete the detailed design plan by early 2023.
“That should allow us to start demolishing the newer annexes and begin the capital build by spring 2024 – that’s our target date.
“Once the centre is complete, we estimate there will be 23 jobs initially with five of those being apprenticeships for young people.”
Asked how finance for the project could be secured, Ms McRobert said: “Funding is part of the detailed design phase.
“When that is ready we can take that to large potential funders.
“There is so much funding around for people taking ownership and developing assets.
“We are hoping that ours is a good model and that this will come just at the right time for us.”
She added: “The market for so-called staycations is going to be larger than it was pre-Covid.
“Everybody is focused on how important exercise is for health and wellbeing and our activity centre will allow people to access these kind of activities.
“And it won’t just be for visitors – everybody will be able to use the site.
“Between the bouldering and pump track there are lots of chances for young people to learn new skills.”
