One of the oldest buildings in the heart of Inverness could soon be restored to its former glory after being destroyed in a massive fire.
Plans were lodged yesterday to rebuild M&Co’s Academy Street store, which was gutted by a huge blaze in April.
The retailer has said it hopes to start work on the prominent site in the new year – before reopening by September.
The proposals were widely welcomed by the Highland capital’s business community last night – with Inverness Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stewart Nicol saying he was keen for the city centre to move on after the fire.
The blaze brought widespread disruption to the city, with Academy Street only reopening to two-way traffic last month.
Some businesses reported a significant drop in trade because of the restrictions.
The building sits at the corner of Academy Street and Strothers Lane, and is wholly owned by M&Co.
The clothes store would move back into a retail space on the ground floor, and the plans would also include three office units to be built on the first floor, with a new entrance on Strothers Lane.
Mr Nicol said: “I’ll be delighted to see the scaffolding taken down and for the facade to be retained as it is a listed building.
“It will be good to put this whole episode with the fire behind us and move on with that area of town.
“It’s also encouraging to see the offices reopening onto Strothers Lane which is an area I am keen to see growing and redeveloping, especially with everything that is happening at the bottom end of Academy Street.”
He added that he was “generally frustrated” by the length of time it takes to rebuild fire-damaged buildings but said M&Co had moved “relatively fast” to restore its shop.
The planning application documents also include a number of photographs which give a look inside the gutted building for the first time.
They show how the building has been cleared after the roof and first floor collapsed during the blaze, as well as the existing internal steel work which is helping stop the structure from collapsing.
The listed building dates back to 1792 when it was built as the original Inverness Royal Academy, giving Academy Street its name.
M&Co say the work to restore the building would involve its “full reinstatement”, with a new “conservation-style shopfront” and new roof finished with second-hand Ballachulish slate.
Mike Smith, manager of Inverness Bid, said that M&Co had done a “fabulous job” to get to the stage of seeking planning permission for the rebuild only seven months on from the devastating fire.
He added: “We’re delighted at Bid that they have applied for planning permission already.
“It was always their intention to rebuild and then to return as quickly as they could.”
Inverness MP Drew Hendry was among the first on the scene after the fire broke out at about 10pm on April 15.
Last night, he said: “It would be great news to see Academy Street returned to normal and if this historic building is rebuilt in a sympathetic way, then I am sure everyone who uses the city centre will be delighted.”
A spokeswoman for M&Co said: “Subject to the planning application progressing smoothly, we hope to start rebuilding in the new year.”