A HISTORIC city hall is to be demolished after councillors rejected regeneration plans and voted for a second time to pull down the listed building.
The decision to knock down Perth City Halls was described as premature by heritage campaigners while a trust set up by Prince Charles, which had submitted plans to turn the venue into an indoor market, called for further talks with Perth and Kinross Council.
The local authority will now have to apply to Historic Scotland for permission to demolish the building. The agency has previously blocked an application to have the building taken down and replaced with a new civic square.
Marcus Binney, president of Save Britain's Heritage, said it was "entirely premature to reject" the plans by Perth City Market Trust, backed by the Prince's Regeneration Trust, to turn the halls into an indoor market.
Ros Kerslake, chief executive of the Prince's Regeneration Trust, said: "There needs to be a discussion between the council, Perth City Market Trust, other key stakeholders such as Historic Scotland, and ourselves to develop a fundraising programme and a plan for the future."
In May last year Historic Scotland, acting for Scottish ministers, blocked the application by Perth and Kinross Council to take down the B-listed building. The council proposed spending £4.4 million creating a new civic square with feature fountains and street furniture that would cater for a range of events and attractions throughout the year, from outdoor markets to an ice-rink.
But Historic Scotland said it did not believe the council had made a compelling case.
The plan submitted by Perth City Market Trust was for a tourist information and visitor office at the entrance, a large indoor market for speciality retailer and food vendors, small business units, and a gallery and roof-top restaurant on the third floor.
But commercial property experts Jones Lang Lasalle examined the plans for the council and were not convinced they were financially viable.
Many believe the building is too culturally important for it to be demolished. It was a leading musical venue since 1911 and hosted everything from Gaelic Mods to Margaret Thatcher's first speech as Prime Minister in 1979 to the Scottish Conservatives.
Malcolm Fraser, architect and chairman of the Scottish Government's Town Centre Review, said a new civic square in Perth could be a lovely thing and he understood the council's wider aims, but added: "I can see a great many gap sites, temporary car parks and rubbishy buildings in Perth that could be lost to provide one, and the logic of pulling down one of the very finest buildings in town escapes me.
"I can't help thinking the council's vision for a square full of market stalls really needs some shelter from the elements and that a big, sturdy, fine stone hall would provide exactly the sort of great market hall that is the jewel of so many northern English cities."
But businessman John Bullough, chairman of the Perth City Development Trust, said he was pleased the matter had come to a conclusion, "as a decade of having a derelict void at Perth's heart has significantly damaged our Fair City".
A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: "We are aware of the council's decision regarding Perth City Hall. As they are minded to proceed with an application for listed building consent to demolish the building, we await submission of an application that will ultimately be passed to Historic Scotland for determination on behalf of Scottish ministers."
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