town house, community asset transfer

The Town House, officially listed as Knockcushan House, is a B listed building, built in the mid 19th century. It was the home of brothers Thomas and Robert McKechnie prosperous local wine and spirit merchants of the Victorian era who also ran a grocery business in Girvan. They left a bequest of £6,500 to the town, with which to build a public library and reading room, The McKechnie Institute.

The Town House is currently owned by South Ayrshire Council and is used by various community organisations and groups, such as Stepping Stones for Families, The Girvan Tourist Information Point and Cosy Spaces. It is also used as a meeting space for community engagement, board and AGM meetings. As such it is a vital asset to the people of Girvan. To safeguard it's future as a community space, GoGirvan is exploring the option of a Community Asset Transfer, meaning that the building would be transferred to and remain in Community Ownership for current and future generations.

GoGirvan secured funding from Scottish Land Fund and The Architectural Heritage Fund to carry out business and architectural feasibility studies on the Town House in order to test the viability of the community taking it on as a community asset. These studies are almost complete and we will update this section with information from both studies very soon.