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Former Kingussie hospital being neglected as wait goes on


By Tom Ramage

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Concern continues to grow over the fate of the former St Vincent’s Hospital in Kingussie as negotiations drag on over its new ownership.

Attacks by vandals have left more scars on the building and local observers wonder just who is responsible for keeping a weather eye on the building.

STORMY TIMES: The damage has been done not just by vandals but by recent storms.
STORMY TIMES: The damage has been done not just by vandals but by recent storms.

“There is roof damage now to the front of the building and looking in one of the windows at the front it looks like a ceiling is down,” said one local observer, Sheila Mackay, after her latest visit.

“There are lots of broken windows. Water is probably pouring in through the roof.

"At the back on the upper floor there is a window wedged open with a piece of wood.

“There was as an alarm beeping when we were up there.”

DAMAGED: The Strathy has reported several times on the mistreatment of the building by vandals.
DAMAGED: The Strathy has reported several times on the mistreatment of the building by vandals.

A Highland Council spokesman said: “We are currently negotiating the purchase of the former St Vincent Hospital from NHS Highland to redevelop for affordable housing, and hoping to complete this financial year.”

NHS Highland still owns the property, which was closed as a working hospital two years ago.

BOARDED UP: Some repairs have been done after the latest spate of vandalism but more work is needed with some windows still broken and a ceiling reportedly down now inside. Photos: Frances Porter
BOARDED UP: Some repairs have been done after the latest spate of vandalism but more work is needed with some windows still broken and a ceiling reportedly down now inside. Photos: Frances Porter

The Strathy has asked the healthy board for an update. Walter Frederick de Watteville, a Swiss doctor, opened the ‘Grampian Sanitorium’ to treat TB patients in 1901and the building saw many incarnations in its lifetime.


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