DEMOLITION of the Royal Highland Showground's MacRobert Pavilion will begin soon, but it may be several years before it is replaced with another permanent structure – if at all, writes Zoe Wilson.

The Ingliston landmark was earmarked for demolition right after the final day of this year's show, but that was delayed by the discovery of asbestos in the building, which required a pause while a more careful deconstruction was planned.

In turn, hopes that a new structure would be in place for 2017's show – as set out in the planning application for a 3000 square metre, two level building submitted to the local council in January this year – have been set back. While the planned demolition will now go ahead, it has been confirmed that there will be no new building by 2017's show. Instead a temporary 'marquee' type structure will be put in place.

"It's no surprise that asbestos is present in the old building, as it was very common at the time when the building was erected for asbestos to be used in its construction," said an RHASS spokesperson. "Builders are currently assessing the safe taking down of the building, and once that is done, plans will be put into place to work on its replacement."

Although no exact timeline was given for a new building's completion, the spokesperson insisted: "We are keen to get something up to replace it, and we will be replacing it permanently."

But the RHASSwanast the new members pavilion to be appropriate for other occasions: "The building will have to have a multiple amount of uses, to ensure that it is profitable," said the spokesperson. "It can't just be built to be used over the course of four days at the show."

Meanwhile, no exact description was provided of what the temporary replacement structure is likely to be, but it was suggested that it may be along the lines of a large marquee, similar to those found at other large agricultural shows, and events such as the Golf Open, that would be brought in, and constructed, specially for the four days of the RHS.

An unnamed source, close to the show, has suggested that, provided 2017's temporary replacement is a success with members, there might never be a permanent replacement for the MacRobert Pavilion, saving the society a heap of cash and leaving a large chunk of land in a key area of the showground free for more flexible use.