© Old Aberdeen Community Council

Dunbar Street Hall is back in business – and ready for new business!

The rejuvenated hall boasts a state-of-the art kitchen designed to ensure that food is prepared and served under the most hygienic conditions. The kitchen is equipped  with a splendid cooker comprising a double oven and five-position hob, a very capacious fridge-freezer and a dishwasher which operates on a two-minute cycle.

 

Venues to which the public have access are often judged by the standard of the toilets. The newly-installed Dunbar Street Hall facilities are sure to earn top marks. New lighting and neutral decoration have made the hall much brighter and also created a sense of spaciousness.

 

With the refurbishment programme completed, the hall management committee is keen to see the hall become the focal point for community life in Old Aberdeen. The hall is suitable for a wide variety of uses – meetings, birthday and other parties, coffee mornings, lunches, ceilidh dances, dancing classes, dinners, small wedding receptions, etc.

 

For much of the year the main hall is already in regular use on Monday (Tai Chi class), Wednesday (line dancing) and Thursday (Scottish country dancing) evenings; the first and third Tuesday evenings of each month are also used for much of the year by an old-time dancing group.

 

There is, however considerable scope for bookings for Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings and for daytime bookings throughout the week.

 

The hall was erected in 1886 when the Misses Lamond, Isabella Jane and Helen Leslie of Powis granted a feu charter in favour of the ministers and senior lay member of the Kirk Session of the Cathedral Church of St Machar and their successors in office.

 

For many years the hall was used almost exclusively by organisations associated with the cathedral. In more recent years, the premises have also become home to a variety of organisations unconnected with the cathedral.

 

The plans for the refurbishment programme were drawn up by James Masson Building Consultants and the work carried out by JKM Property Services Ltd.

 

The hall belongs to the  Kirk Session of  St Machar’s; it was the Kirk Session which provided the major proportion of the funding  for the refurbishment. However, in acknowledgement of the hall’s role as a community facility Aberdeen City Council and Old Aberdeen Community Council both made significant contributions. The community council’s contribution included meeting the cost of the dishwasher.

 

For bookings contact Mrs Valerie Morgan at the Cathedral office (Tel: 01224-485988;E-mail: office@stmachar.com ) between 10.30 a.m., and 1.00 p.m Monday to Friday.

To view the hall contact Dick Williamson
 Tel: 01224-821548;

 E-mail: rj_williamson@btinternet.com )