PLANS for a £2million redevelopment of the decaying former Budz Bar could be scuppered.
Allan Smith and Bruce Porter are preparing to redevelop the building, which has lay vacant since 2007, into a multistory mini-golf, cocktail bar and restaurant venue.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Why? Free to subscribe, no paywall, daily business news digest.
One of the proposals sent to Aberdeen City Council includes covering the rear exterior in corten steel, with modern lights to spruce up the look.
“We have spent months clearing the place out, it’s now fully stripped and we are ready to start as soon as we are given the go-ahead,” Allan said.
“We have cleared tonnes of debris. But to start, we need to know what we can proceed with and how.”
He continued: “Aberdeen city centre needs investment, and it needs bold ideas, and that’s what we want to do.
“We just need permission to get started and it’s frustrating having to wait so long.”
It is expected the application will go to a vote in the coming weeks.
Aberdeen City Council refused to comment on the claims that officials have taken a dim view of the lighting plans.
But the issues raised by heritage buffs include the impact on Justice Mill Lane, with some claiming it looked like “the Las Vegas strip at night”.
But the city entrepreneur behind the lighting proposal argues it is needed to brighten up what is now a rather dowdy building.
Allan stressed to us that the corten steel incorporated into the design will match with the Aberdeen letters in Union Terrace Gardens (which he designed) and other new sites in the city centre.
he added: “The building is falling down, as it is. The cladding will protect it and preserve its future, as it will prevent the rain getting in.
“The lighting will be under our control, so it can be as bright or as faint as we choose. It is intended to be background lighting, and won’t dominate the building.”
