IT'S A FAIR WIND FOR OBSERVATORY-REBUILD PROJECT AS £7.4-MILLION FUNDING TARGET IS ACHIEVED

 

An impression of how the new observatory is likely to look (Image Colin Armstrong Architects)

A TARGET date of spring 2023 has been set for opening of a new observatory - with 29 guestrooms - at Fair Isle, Britain's top birding hotspot.

The building will replace the one destroyed in an unexplained fire in March 2019.

The £7.4-million project was thought to have been in jeopardy because the insurance payment was insufficient to cover the re-build costs.

But in October, between them, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Government pledged £2.35-million.

And, this weekend, it emerged that the West Midland Bird Club had made a generous donation - thought to be as much as £15,000 - to ensure the observatory trust also reached its public appeal target of £650,000.

Shetland Islands Council (Crown Estates Coastal Communities Fund) and Garfield Weston Foundation have also chipped in with vital monies.

Confirmation that funding has been secured means that one of the UK’s most remote communities can look forward to a promising future as a global eco-tourism destination that plays a crucial role in the social and economic life on the island.

The project, which is led by Fair Isle Bird Observatory Trust, will create seven  jobs and help  to sustain the island's population.

Designed by Inverness-based Colin Armstrong Architects, the  new building will be modular  and largely constructed off-site, with the various sections being shipped to Fair Isle for assembly and completion works.

This has raised eyebrows in the wake of concerns among some that modular buildings are vulnerable to fire risk.

Both the predecessor observatory and an hotel in the Shetlands were of modular construction and both ended up as ashes.

Subject to planning consent, it is hoped that construction of the new observatory will  get under way in summer next year, with opening in the following year.

The development aims to be  energy-efficient, using power from the island’s community-owned renewable energy grid as well as from the building’s own solar panels.

Says chairman of the observatory trust Douglas Barr: "We are extremely grateful to our funders.

"This will allow us both to continue with our research and  to maintain our  role in both the tourism and wider Fair Isle economy."

Flames sweep through the observatory in March 2019