A Dunfermline law firm has been awarded a pilot grant of £10,000 as part of a shop front scheme being run through Fife Council’s Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) due to be launched in March.

McIlroy, Hipwell & Dingwall received the grant from CARS Officer, Lorraine Bell. The funding will be go towards replacing the current shop front to their Chalmers Street premises and they will install a new design that will enhance this traditional building, which is located in the Dunfermline Outstanding Conservation Area.

Mary McIlroy Hipwell researched historic drawings and photographs of earlier shop fronts at this building and the new design has been influenced by a shop front from 1907.

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The refit will also see the ground floor divided into three units, one retained by McIlroy, Hipwell & Dingwall and the others let out to local businesses, including new tenants The Genealogy Clinic, opening soon.

The Dunfermline grant was funded by Historic Scotland and is a pilot for a new shop front grant scheme, to be launched in March. CARS is joining forces with Dunfermline Delivers to host a workshop for traders on the evening of 16 March to launch new grant schemes from both BIDs and CARS.

Dunfermline CARS Officer Lorraine Bell said: "This project shows that it’s possible to improve today’s town centre buildings for new modern uses, whilst still having regard for traditional design and materials that enhance Dunfermline’s Conservation Area."

Mary McIlroy Hipwell added: "We have designed the small shop front units to help new businesses that need low start-up costs. The CARS grant has helped us to meet our own costs and to enhance our historic premises in Chalmers Street."

The project is one of a programme of improvements being funded through the £1.8 million Dunfermline Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS), which is a partnership between Fife Council and Historic Scotland.

(GK/BMcC)