Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

David Mackay: ‘South Street demolition should make us all reimagine what we WANT Elgin town centre to be’

One corner of Elgin town centre is being rebuilt, but why should we stop there?

Collage of David Mackay and South Street in Elgin.
South Street in Elgin is changing day-by-day at the moment. Image: DC Thomson

Watching your town centre and community change shape day-by-day doesn’t happen often, but that’s exactly what is happening right now in Elgin.

It’s quite something to watch the layers of history being peeled back and revealing long-lost parts of local heritage.

When I’ve been walking to work along South Street I might be able to see right into the back of what has been an abandoned building one day, or an old sign from a long-lost business.

When I look a different direction I’ve seen paint on the walls from inside Junners or, if I’ve got my good glasses on, parts of the former Jailhouse nightclub.

Take the same trip a few days later and the entire structure has been taken down.

Drone image of demolition in Elgin.
Demolition works have provided a glimpse into Elgin’s past. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

That entire corner of South Street is currently being stripped back to be rebuilt with more retail units, a UHI Moray campus and housing.

Right now, work is taking place that will change the shape of our town centre for generations to come.

It’s exciting. You can tell from the number of people I pass who have picked up demolition watching as a spectator sport.

Can we replicate South Street project elsewhere in Elgin?

It isn’t just in Elgin the South Street demolition project is turning heads though.

During the last couple of months the work has attracted national attention with hopes it could become a template for other towns.

I’m pretty parochial when it comes to Elgin though because, frankly, it’s worth it.

So let’s forget about how we could be setting examples for Dumfries, Falkirk and Dunbar and look at what we have on our own doorstep.

Junners shop Elgin
The former Junners buildings had been empty for years. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

South Street is all about taking a largely vacant corner of our town centre and reimagining it as a multi-use area to drive footfall into there and the surrounding streets.

Sound familiar? We could be saying the same thing in a few years about the St Giles Centre and the largely sealed-off multi-storey car park.

It’s a huge site, probably about double the size of what is going on at South Street at the moment.

So, what do we do with it?

Drone image of St Giles Centre
The St Giles Centre has a huge footprint in Elgin town centre. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Now is the perfect time to get creative with our hometown. Let’s not be beholden to the past of only considering it as a shopping centre.

Let’s really think about what unlocked potential this building could have. Actually, let’s look at the land and imagine what we would like to see in our town centre.

Did I think John Lewis in Aberdeen could become a go-kart track? Certainly not.

Could a concept like the Victorian Market in Inverness be replicated here? I don’t know.

Or perhaps it could be a venue to bring community groups, start-up retailers, affordable flats and some health appointments under one roof? No idea.

How about a plush hotel called the Dandy Lie-In? Alright, I’m being silly now.

My favourite things about Elgin town centre

The beauty of Elgin though is that we don’t need to reimagine our whole town centre, there’s already so much to love.

This week I was reminded of everything good about our High Street and what we need to protect most.

My wife and I took our one-year-old daughter to Begg Shoes for her first pair of shoes, plus an upgrade on the battered old pair I persist in wearing.

David Mackay’s daughter testing out her new shoes on Elgin High Street. Image: David Mackay

She wore hers out of the shop, like I remember doing when I was a kid and immediately started strutting about like she owned the High Street.

I loved watching her, and I instantly thought about how fortunate we were to have this wonderful pedestrianised town centre where I could let her roam about for a bit without having to worry (too much) about traffic.

I know it’s not to everyone’s taste, I know some hark back to the 1990s when you could park your car for free there all day.

Rally cars on Elgin High Street.
Elgin High Street provides a natural home to events, including the start of the Speyside Stages rally. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

However, empty cars don’t buy anything, shoppers do.

Yes, I know, a lot of the shoppers will have to drive to get there.

But what I think is more important is giving them a safe, welcoming, clean High Street when they get there. And if that comes at the cost of £2 for a car park, then I think that’s a small price to pay.

Elgin High Street is perfect for events, outdoor markets or just spending a slow afternoon in the sun.

We’re fortunate we don’t need to reinvent the whole town centre, just little parts of it.

Read more from Elgin

Conversation