A historic Moray hospital deemed surplus to requirements by NHS Grampian could be revived as a care home for the region’s elderly veterans.
Erskine have emerged as the front-runners to utilise the site of the former Leanchoil Hospital in Forres.
Representatives from the organisation – which currently operates four purpose-built care homes for veterans in Edinburgh and Glasgow have already toured the site.
Erskine is keen to expand its services further north and is understood to believe the much-loved building may be the perfect location.
Locals and organisations were invited to the town’s Tolbooth yesterday to have their say about what the future could hold for the much-loved building.
Some of the other suggestions for Leanchoil included a health and wellbeing hub, tourism uses or student accommodation.
Most of the feedback from the public focused on the fact that the hospital needs to be used to benefit the community at large, due to its longstanding importance to the town.
Erskine are the early pace-setters, however, and when representatives visited Leanchoil last week to check out the facilities they also met with Forres Community Council (FCC) who are leading the project to find new occupants for the now empty site.
Ministry of Defence data reveals that 2,700 people receive armed service pensions in the Moray catchment, while a full 16% of the local population is ex-armed forces.
Given that, FCC chairman Graham Hilditch believes the potential arrival of Erskine would be a great idea, but he also believes there is scope for multiple tenants.
He said: “We are showcasing eight obvious options we have generated for the building, covering key sectors like health and wellbeing and the community.
“A public consultation is key to us getting feedback.
“The overall aim is for there to be multiple uses for Leanchoil because it is a substantial place.
“Along with the main hospital block, and its east and west wings, there are various separate buildings including the nurses’ residence, boiler house and mortuary.
“We showed representatives from Erskine around the hospital last week and they were knocked-back by the size of the facility and are looking at the possibility of multiple uses for it.
“If it does come off, it would generate a lot of employment in the local area as it would become a rehab centre for veterans, with woodworking and painting, so there will be artisans involved.”
Architect Stuart MacKellar of LDN Architects, who have been tasked with surveying and inspecting the building, hopes to have detailed information about the condition of the former hospital in a few months time.
He said: “The results of the inspection are tentatively scheduled for the end of August, and after that we hope to hold another public engagement event where more definitive ideas can be discussed.
“We are still information gathering and this event has been the first step in pulling ideas together.”
Moray MP Douglas Ross said: “The former hospital was built with money donated to the local community and really means a lot to the people from the town, myself included.
“That is why it is important people have their say on what they would like to see on the site in future. It is a beautiful building in stunning grounds, so there is a lot of potential.”