New hope for church plagued by pigeons

Plans could see restaurant and concert venue transform ‘health hazard’ church

There may be light at the end of the tunnel for a dilapidated former church infested by hundreds of nesting pigeons.

Despite being classed as a “health hazard” and containing asbestos, The Courier can exclusively reveal that plans are afoot to create a community/ heritage centre for the listed St Paul’s Church building in Perth High Street.

James Boyd, legal and compliance manager with the Belfast-based Simple Marketing Global (SMG), has taken over the running of the disused building from Edinburgh curry chain Khushi’s.

Yesterday the entrepreneur – who runs businesses in Manchester and Belfast – said he intends to make the building watertight, secure it safely and then turn to transforming the structure, in a move that will cost around £2.5m.

Mr Boyd admitted he will seek help from Perth and Kinross Council on making the historic building watertight and that – “optimistically”– he may have funding in place within 12 months to move forward with his plans, but he is asking for patience from residents.

Yesterday he revealed he has already had detailed discussions with the local authority and said he is determined to show the Perth public that he “means business.”

The problem with nesting pigeons is so bad that there is a “minimum” of six inches of bird droppings inside the former church.

“It is a health hazard inside just now; it has asbestos but anything can be saved,” he told The Courier.

“There may be a willingness from the council to help clean up inside and we are looking for them to assist us.”

He added: “The inside of the building could see a café being built, along with a ‘high end’ restaurant, a small concert venue, with some heritage information about Perth in the gallery section. It could even be used as wedding venue.

“I don’t want to see this as a black hole. A well-known English pub chain was interested in the building, but I felt this site doesn’t lend itself to that. The building is quite unique – it’s a big site in a small space.

“It could end up an attraction in its own right.”

Mr Boyd said he will arrange to secure the site then close up all holes with chicken wire and arrange for hawks to be brought in.

“The hawks belong to a well-established pest control company and they will chase the pigeons out the building through the last opening,” he added.

“Then the last access hole will be blocked and we will have to address the internal clear-up. It should take around two months to make it watertight and then hopefully around 12 months to secure necessary funding.

“If we get Heritage Lottery funding in place, we will be moving on.”

St Paul’s Church closed its doors almost 30 years ago.

It is a health hazard inside just now; it has asbestos but anything can be saved.

JAMES BOYD

Pictures: Dougie Nicolson. Mr Boyd said hawks would be used to clear the building of pigeons.