The former Royal High School building on Regent Road is formally 'At Risk'. But this fact has been obscured from the public for three years following a request from City of Edinburgh Council.
The startling news came to light in answers to Spurtle's questions to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS). Since 1990 this body has maintained the Buildings at Risk Register (BARR) on behalf of Historic Scotland.
On 2 February 2012, RCAHMS added to the BARR the iconic Regent Road main building, two pavilions and the later classroom/gym block at the rear. It did so as CEC was 'mothballing' the property. The buildings would be vacant, and did not yet have an identified use – conditions which always trigger the BAR team's concern.
However, CEC challenged that assessment, arguing that the complex was wind and watertight, had 24-hour security, and that a new use was almost within sight.
Crucially, it also claimed that any such appearance on the BARR could jeopardise sensitive negotiations with a ‘restoring leaseholder’.
Spurtle heard rumours on the subject last month and began making enquiries. An RCAHMS spokesperson has now responded according to the provisions of a Freedom of Information request:
In cognisance of the contract negotiations being at a critical stage and not wishing its presence on the Register to work against resolution for the site, we removed the entries from the public website.
Quite how an appearance on the Register could have worked against a resolution is not made clear, but – sure enough – the buildings remain absent from the online listings for Edinburgh even though a lease was signed in April last year.
Behind the scenes on the hidden dark Register, the buildings have continued to be recorded as At Risk, have been recorded within all the statistics that the BARR team produces, and continue to be monitored for any change in their status.
'Should the Buildings at Risk team be approached to check their status in relation to the Register we would confirm their presence,’ says an RCAHMS spokesperson.
RCAHMS's assurance that it would own up to the former Royal High School's At Risk status, on request, is of course only helpful up to a point. If you were concerned about the structures but didn’t know to ask, you would naturally assume that, because the buildings do not appear online, they are not on the Register and so are not considered At Risk.
To many outsiders, it will come as a great surprise to learn that one set of information has been presented to the public whilst a separate set of information has been maintained in private. Some may feel it undermines the BARR's reputation as an impartial record of historically or architecturally significant structures facing decline.
It also seems extraordinary that the kind of information any potential 'restoring leaseholder' or its backers would be interested in was partially obscured by a government agency to suit a local authority which stood to gain.
Spurtle understands that within RCAHMS, too, some members of staff are deeply uncomfortable at the supposedly transparent Register appearing to have become embroiled in the hard-to-fathom complexities of commercial contract negotiations.
Such unease has only been exacerbated by the international significance of architect Thomas Hamilton’s neo-classical design, and the fact that Historic Scotland has simultaneously been involved in consultations/workshops with the new leaseholder –Duddingston House Properties – concerning plans to develop the site.
Given this article, it now makes little sense for the Royal High School's At Risk status to remain off the radar. Indeed, in the run-up to this year’s tri-annual survey of Edinburgh’s A-listed buildings, a spokesperson says RCAHMS has ‘initiated discussions on making the entries publicly available online’.
Meanwhile, City of Edinburgh Council’s assurances about the building being wind and watertight appear to have been premature. Judging by what we saw on a visit to the site last month, 24-hour security has not prevented or fixed broken windows, damp, standing water, and pigeon infestation (Breaking news, 16.1.15).
Spurtle's further enquiries are now being handled by Historic Scotland, with whom RCAHMS is in the process of merging. Historic Scotland is treating these as a Freedom of Information request, which means any answers could take up to 20 working days.
We'll tell you more as and when we have it.
Got a view? Tell us at spurtle@hotmail.co.uk and @theSpurtle and Facebook
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David Sterratt @DavidSterratt
@theSpurtle Good work! This is incredible. What would the law say if I sold my house without mentioning a planned roof repair?
@theSpurtle so how many other properties are on the dark register? Good work by the way :-)
Broughton Spurtle @theSpurtle
@fountainbridge That's one of the questions on our latest FOI request.
Rather splendid bit of investigative journalism there by @theSpurtle. But if BARR isn't transparent & impartial now, what hope under HES?
@theSpurtle scandalous - whatever happened to the idea of a photography museum here? Thought Shir Sean was gonna stump up dosh