After three years of planning, community-led Bruntsfield St. Oswald’s took ownership of the historic church and hall known as St. Oswald’s from the City of Edinburgh Council on 31 March.
The B-listed building on Montpelier Park was left vacant in February 2018 when Boroughmuir High School relocated to its canal-side site. The purchase was enabled under the Community Empowerment Act 2015 and supported by a generous grant from the Scottish Land Fund.
David Urch, Chair of Bruntsfield St. Oswald’s, said: “We are delighted to have brought St. Oswald’s into community ownership and would like to thank all our members and supporters, the Scottish Land Fund, the Community Ownership Support Service as well as the City of Edinburgh Council for making this possible.
“Our work now turns to transforming this historic building over the next year into a vibrant place for children, their families and our wider community to participate in a broad range of activities and events.”
Councillor Rob Munn, Finance and Resources Convener, the City of Edinburgh Council said: “As we start to move out of lockdown, it’s really encouraging to see fantastic projects like this going ahead.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the building brought back to life when it opens, filled with local families, the elderly and carers being offered valuable services in their local community.
“It’s so important that we give local people a say on the facilities they need for their area and this is one of four community asset transfers which are taking place over the next few weeks. Well done to the local people for making this much-needed project happen.”
The building is expected to open to the public in 2022 after a period of extensive refurbishment.
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