As a former pupil of the Royal High School who went to school in the Hamilton building I have no understanding for those that argue the building should be “preserved” in its original condition ("Row erupts over Royal High School's future after city council owner turns down £1.5m offer", The Herald, September 24). The plans to create a genuinely world-class hotel which brings this building back to life and open to the public after more than 45 years of complete neglect are only to be welcomed.
Neither the council nor any of these various heritage organisations that have suddenly emerged in recent months to criticise the plans for a hotel development have done anything to protect this building from substantial and partially irreversible decay. I visited the building last year for the first time since my school days and was very impressed by the quality of the structure and by its architectural splendour. However I was also shocked by the degree of damage to the building as a result of being unoccupied all these years.
Surely the important point is that we now finally have a proposal which will not only correct this shameful treatment of a great building but will also send a signal internationally that Edinburgh is a modern and innovative city committed to true preservation of its architectural heritage.
And it is anyway completely unrealistic in times of public spending cuts to imagine that there is any other proposal which can raise the capital required to both restore this building and to generate much-needed revenue for the city.
David Scrimgeour MBE,
Mangstr 29,
80997 Munich,
Germany.
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