Historic Wick tower needs funding of £100,000
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FUNDING of around £100,000 is needed to complete the renovation of the historic Soldiers' Tower in Wick.
The figure was given this week by Alex Paterson, chairman of the Wick branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland (RBLS), which is undertaking the project.
The work is being done in phases and once the funding has been secured it is expected the remainder of the refurbishment could then be completed in about a year.
Mr Paterson said: "The first two phases have been done but it will take up to £100,000 to complete it. Quite a lot of work has to be carried out to try and get the monument back to what it was. We are in the process of trying to get funding and are looking at a number of different bodies for money."
He conceded there had been "a lull for a while when nothing much happened" but stressed that the Legion wants to get the Soldiers' Tower restored.
Mr Paterson explained that the monument – long used by seafarers as a landmark – was constructed in 1909 to honour Caithness soldiers and other military personnel who served their country in various global conflicts, including Trafalgar, Waterloo and the Peninsular and Boer wars. A casket containing 400 of their names was buried under the floor.
Wick RBLS now owns the tower after purchasing the title deeds from landowner Hempriggs Estate for £1.
After a period of neglect, the war memorial was in danger of being demolished until Captain Richard Otley – then chairman of the Wick branch of RBLS – stepped in to try and save the structure.
Phase one of the project was to remove the rendering from the monument, while the second stage involved drawing up the plans for the renovation.
Specialist engineers visited the site last year to look at the tower and help with the preparations for the full restoration of the memorial.
The Legion branch moved to save the tower in 2017 after Highland Council announced it was considering knocking it down due to the cost of the repairs. The suggestion met with an angry backlash from the public and the campaign to save the historic structure was launched.
Examination of the memorial by the specialist firm identified a number of issues: water getting in through the roof, problems relating to the later render coatings applied to the monument and damage to the memorial plaques.
It is hoped the tower can be restored to how it looked when constructed 110 years ago.
