Demolition plans unveiled for Kirkcaldy community centre as part of £15m blueprint

There is no formal start date, but the local authority has put forward a “prior notification for demolition” application on the local planning portal.

In October, the council revealed plans to demolish Argos Youth Centre at the Templehall Community Hub. Now, plans to take down the main community centre have been unveiled.

The latest move is part of a major £15 million redevelopment of the local community centre.

“The existing Templehall Community Centre is to be demolished as a new build facility is to be provided,” planning papers said.

Once it begins, the demolition is expected to take approximately 22 weeks, but the official start date is subject to planning approval and warrants being in place.

A spokesperson from Fife Council previously said a full planning application for the new hub is expected sometime in November, with a view to it being operational in Spring 2026.

“The new Templehall Community Hub building will be built on the site of the former Argos Centre, at Appin Crescent. The new Community Hub building is subject to a separate planning application,” planning papers explained.

Last November, Cabinet Committee councillors unanimously approved the long-anticipated redevelopment of Templehall buildings with what they called “ one of the most ambitious” community initiatives ever realised in Fife. The redevelopment aims to merge the existing “disparate rundown local facilities” into a single, modern space on the site of the existing Argos Centre.

The innovative one-stop-shop will eventually house the local office; the current Argos Centre facilities; the Templehall Library, which will be operated by Fife Cultural Trust; a computer room; a café area with outside seating; as well as the main hall and various spaces for fitness and leisure activities and a new multi use games area outside.

The hub is being built by BAM contractors, which has delivered several secondary schools in the region, including Windmill Community Campus in Kirkcaldy.

Council planners will consider the demolition plan in due course.

> A long established gymnasium in Kirkcaldy is also set to move into new premises as part of a wider transformation of the area.

Fife Council’s £15m blueprint for a new community hub in Templehall means the long-established facility there has to move. The local authority has lodged a formal planning application for a change of use of the community centre in Templehall Avenue in order to give it a new home. The request will be considered by councillors in due course.

To enable Templehall Gym to continue to operate independently and be truly community led, it is not moving to the new Community Hub. Instead, it is working alongside Fife Voluntary Action to strengthen its governance, and it will hopefully be able to lease the newly refurbished space, within the former learning centre, from Fife Council.

The proposed operational hours of the gym will be Monday to Friday 8.30am to 8.30pm and Saturday and Sunday 9am to 6pm.

Councillor Ian Cameron said: "The gym in Templehall is an institution. We are delighted to be able to support the group with this move to make it possible for them to continue to offer a community led facility in the area."

It’s the latest piece of the jigsaw to be unveiled as work starts on the hub hailed by Cabinet Committee councillors as “one of the most ambitious” community initiatives ever realised in the region.