New life for the old library?

An application to change the use of Kirkwall’s old Carnegie Library, in Laing Street, is to viewed by the council’s planning committee this morning.

If approved, the application, which has been submitted by local businesses man Neil Stevenson, will see the building house a shop, gallery, cafe bar and music venue.

The application is recommended for approval by the council’s planning officers but has one objection, from neighbours to the site, on the grounds of noise.

The passing of the application would see a return to Laing Street by Mr Stevenson’s business, Grooves, which originally began there in what is now SAS Business Supplies, in 1990. Grooves is currently situated in the Old Custom House in Albert Street.