Edinburgh Evening News

An A-listed landmark building in the Royal Mile is being allowed to go to rack and ruin, Old Town campaigners warned today. The former tourist information centre at Tron Kirk has had its windows smashed in and been boarded up since it was closed by the city council a year ago. Plans to create a new visitor centre, cabaret club and restaurant have stalled as the cost of the project has doubled, leaving the council with a budget shortfall of £1 million. The tourism centre's former operator, Black Hart Entertainment, leased the building from the council and was told to leave last October. The Edinburgh company's director, Jan-Andrew Henderson, said: "We were told by the council that planning permission was being sought to restore and develop the site, and our lease was not going to be renewed only two weeks before we had to leave. To begin with, the council said that we could continue to lease the Tron Kirk on a month-by-month basis. However, we were later told the developers wanted to excavate the site and we had to leave before planning permission had even been approved. "