Nostalgia: When the Co-op was king of Kirkcaldy High Street

In the 18th century the site was the home of Kirkcaldy MP James Oswald.

He built a town house on the plot in mid 1700s because his residence at Path House meant he did not have a residence in the Lang Toun – the Path fell outside the Royal Burgh of Kirkcaldy at that time – and House of Commons rules stated that a sitting MP must stay within their Burgh for political advancement purposes

Oswald remained in the house he had built until the 1790s when he moved his family to Dunnikier House, now the Oswald House Hotel.

The building remained intact until the early 20th century when demolition work began in 1903 and in its place was built the Kirkcaldy & District Co-operative Society – the Co-op to you and I – which opened in 1907.

Fifty years later work began on a major refurbishment and extension to the original building which was completed in 1960, making it undoubtedly one of the most stunning buildings in the town centre.

The Fife Free Press of the time certainly thought so, calling it: “one of the most modern and streamlined buildings in the town.

“New wings have been joined to the existing two top floors of the four-storey building, and a whole new section has been extended up Oswald Wynd, providing premises for hygienic. self-service grocery departments and a bakery.

“The store, comprising 55,000 square feet of floor space, has a staff of almost 150 assistants.”

It was rare that a trip to the High Street didn’t include a visit to the Co-op and it continued to be one of the busiest stores in town until disaster struck in April 1975 when the entire four-storey building was gutted by fire.

Thought to have started in the cafeteria on the second floor, the blaze caused damage estimated at £1m – a huge sum of money in the 1970s – and brought chaos to the town centre.

Mercifully no-one was injured, but arguably a disaster of another kind took place with the construction of the ugly, modernist 70s block that was built in its place, opening as CEFCO – Central and East Fife Co-op – in 1977.

The 1980s brought a host of competitors into town and the Co-op found itself out of favour with shopping habits and after 85 years finally closed its doors in 1992.

For a period of time the building was home to a carpet retailer before closing again. The unpopular building was then demolished in 2008 with plans approved for a new mixed retail and housing development.

However, the development fell awry when the country was hit by the financial crash that same year, and the site has remained empty ever since.

The mid-2010s saw a plan announced to turn the plot into a privately owned car park for public use but there were problems obtaining planning permission.

Another retail residential and retail plan was approved, but lapsed, however a second of the same nature was firmly in the pipeline – until the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Whether this finally comes to fruition remains to be seen...

• Thanks to Kirkcaldy Civic Society for its help with this article.