Perth hexagonal church to become curry house A UNIQUE hexagonal church dating from the early 19th century that has been empty for more than quarter of a century is set to be turned into a curry house, it was revealed today. St Paul's Church, in Perth's town centre, was built in 1807 to cope with demand from the overcrowded St John's Kirk -- the site of a fiery sermon delivered by John Knox in 1559 which added impetus to the reformation of Scotland -- that is located nearby. Since its closure decades ago, the church has become derelict and now sits crumbling on its site in Perth's Old High Street. Now planners at Perth and Kinross Council are set to give the green light for a £1 million transformation. A concerted drive to secure vital funds to rejuvenate the former B-listed St Paul's Church into a curry house is taking place and a director of the developers will visit the site this week. The condition of the building has been deteriorating but it has now been confirmed that Edinburgh based Khushi's plan to convert the dilapidated building into a restaurant is still very much on track, despite months of inactivity. Some concerns had been raised by neighbouring shops as to what would happen with St Paul's Church but Hugh Crawford, of Sir Frank Mears architects, acting on behalf of Khushi's, clarified that matters should now be progressing. He said: "I had a meeting with Altaf Mohammad, one of Khushi's directors, Isobel Butt and John McCrone, both from Perth and Kinross Council. Altaf set out his programme for external clearing of vegetation and putting the windows back in place. He is visiting the building this week, and work will commence the week after. Mr Crawford continued: "I am pursuing the way of searching out Building Heritage Trust Funding to support the funds which are in place from Historic Scotland and also locally. The local funding will support the work to be done on the tower and steeple which serves a community purpose as a public building. There may be a wrap round the building to protect it, and local amenity. I came from the meeting with the awareness that there was no lack of positive intent, but rather, the level of funding needed takes the project to a level which requires strong support from public funding agencies. Mr Crawford feels the restoration work will bring St Paul's Church "back to life." Planning consent was granted by Perth and Kinross Council in January 2012 but work to clear out unwanted vegetation and hazardous pigeon droppings inside the building has stalled progress on the development. Following listed building consent being granted in November last year, Khushi's have been trying to secure funding from appropriate sources and are now confident they will secure this from public agencies. A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council added: "In January 2012, consent was given for a restaurant to be created in the former site of St Paul's Church in Perth. Any proposed developments must be commenced within the timescale set when consent was awarded, and if not commenced within this timescale, the consent lapses. In this case, the timescale is three years. St Paul's Church has been classed as a building at risk but the extensive plans would include refurbishing the clock face of the church steeple and restoring the mechanism to working order. Khushi's also propose to clearing out the interior of the building and possibly replacing the roof structure with an internal steel framework, with it being re-slated with the existing and matching slates. In addition, the bartisans - the eggcup features at the corners of the church - will be rebuilt to their original height and other stone features at the wallhead will be reinstated. The external stonework will be improved and the walls repointed. The development will also include reconstructing the doors and windows, but trying to keep the existing framework as much as possible.