Take a sneak peak inside the new Elgin Poundland
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The Poundland building in Elgin will be back open for business this summer, say the team responsible for its painstaking restoration.
Six long and complicated years of work were made even longer, first due to the pandemic, then an arson attack by vandals.
But, now, anticipation is growing since the scaffolding was removed last month to reveal the perfectly reconditioned Ashlar stonework.
A lot of effort has gone into ensuring the B-listed building looks as good as new.
The re-opening of Poundland will mark the end of the disruption to the town centre.
Traffic will be allowed down North Street, while Batchen Street will once more be pedestrianised.
Poundland employee Alan Smallman has been overseeing the restoration project from the start.
During that time, he estimates travelling up to Elgin close to a hundred times from his home in Manchester.
He says: “This the only store that Poundland has bought. Apart from Elgin, every other one across the whole UK is rented.
“We’ve put so much time and effort into this and we’re really proud of the results. We’ve succeeded in bringing the building back to its former glory – and that’s going to be a big bonus to town centre.”
Poundland will move back into the ground floor this summer.
Meanwhile, on the two stories above, a total of four apartments have been created, with excellent views down onto the town centre.
The site was well-known around the town for decades as Woolworths.
However, its history dates far further than that.
The A&W Reid bank was its first occupant in 1856.
Mirroring the morality of the Victorian era it later became what was known as a temperance hotel, where alcohol was strictly banned.
Then, in an about-face, it was turned into the New Elgin Men’s Club, where attitudes to alcohol where, presumably, much laxer.
In 1918, the final year of the First World War, it would become a Co-op.
Woolworths moved in 1927 and continued to operate there until the company went into administration at the end of 2009.
This long list of inhabitants, allied to the fact it was constructed on top of an even-earlier building, dating back to 1820, has added to the difficulty of the restoration.
Pinny Muir, an Elgin-based architect who works for LDN, said: “The building was so structurally complex after so many alterations over the years.
“It was a challenge to detangle it. The fact that Poundland have stuck with it proves their commitment to Elgin.”
Poundland originally closed after serious problems were identified with the building in May 2018.
Staff, for a while, travelled to the company’s branch in Inverness.
However, they have been operating out of the nearby TK Maxx building for many months.
Manager Gerry McAloon stated he was proud of how everyone had handled the situation.
Adding that they were all was eager for the building to open again, he said: “I think it looks absolutely amazing.”
