Full extent of the decay of Kirkcaldy’s eyesore multi-storey revealed ahead of demolition bid

Today it is an eyesore just begging to be wiped from the landscape - and a visit on Sunday revealed the full extent of the mess it is in.

The multi-storey actually offers decent parking facilities at a reasonable price £2.40 for three hours, and is next door to the leisure centre, but those plus points are obliterated by the sheer ugliness of the building and the sense it simply isn’t a place you’d walk through on a dark night. The decay is everywhere, and that is a major barrier to anyone thinking of using it.

With the Links Market in full swing on a sunny Easter holiday weekend, the ground and first floors were certainly busier than normal - but a drive to the upper floors revealed a very different picture.

From the second floor up to the roof, every level was empty, and the higher you went, the more the reek of stagnation became clear. The stunning views from the top across the Forth were the only redeeming feature. Elsewhere, vandalism and graffiti dominated your sightlines.

The entrance to the lifts was deeply unpleasant - the shabby white walls covered by black spray paint. It was a similar picture in the stairwells, and I doubt if anyone would even think about taking young children down them for fear of what may be lurking on the floor below.

The signs of decay were also everywhere, from a ticket payment machine so badly rusted it sits at an angle as if ready to fall over, a ‘this way to the shops’ sign tis covered in dust, and a parking bay for trolleys still has signage promoting Marks & Spencer’s High Street store which shut six years ago. The town centre has moved on. The car park feels as if it has been left to crumble.

A walk round the side of the building at ground level up the side of the equally ghastly gap site that was once the old pool was just depressing beyond words. The whole place is utterly miserable, and it towers like a black cloud over the Esplanade.

Demolition cannot come soon enough, but we cannot then be left with another large ugly gap site that slowly but surely disintegrates.. Bridging that gap isn’t easy - but it has to be pursued with the utmost effort and conviction that this town is worth it, and the results could be transformative.