Fife Council bid to turn historic Kirkcaldy pub into community hub underway - three years after £250,000 sale

The work to transform the former St Clair Tavern, which shut its doors in March 2021, has been described as “a major project” to bring the C-listed building back into use.

The council bought the property at the foot of St Clair Street shortly after it closed and plans to turn it into a community hub with flats upstairs.

Alan Hall, business change manager, confirmed that work is well underway.

He said: "This is a major project to bring a C-listed building back into use. Work started last year to remove asbestos and to fit and upgrade the utilities. This is an old building, so we'll need to complete some preservation treatment work and bring it up to current fire safety standards. We'll then begin the renovation of the existing properties to provide much needed homes and a community hub for the local area."

No dates are in place yet for any re-opening. The council said it wants to complete the project as soon as it can, but there's not a fixed timescale at this stage as given the complexity of the work involved. Once it is ready to begin the renovation of the flats, it will be able to give a clearer picture of when the building will be completed.

The St Clair Tavern dates back to 1870, and was a popular place for a pint with generations of local people. It was run for 30 years by the Crombie family led by Moss, his wife, Senga, and son, Trevor.

They bought it off brewer, Wm Younger in 1991, but Moss grew up in the licensed trade. His grandfather ran the Strathearn Hotel, and he ran pubs in Africa where he spent 18 years before returning to Fife. They pulled their last pint in March 2021 and it was subsequently bought by the local authority in October of that year, but it has remained boarded up since then.

The St Clair Tavern was a regulars’ pub but its function room hosted many events as well as becoming a meeting point for a number of groups.