In June 2024 we announced that, after many years of negotiation, Aberdeenshire Council had agreed to a Community Asset Transfer of the ground floor of the Tolbooth building to the Stonehaven Tolbooth Association (STA). Little did we realise the ensuring complexities in bringing this decision to a successful conclusion. The Tolbooth is a grade A listed building which was totally owned by the Council and whilst the ground floor was licenced to STA to operate as a museum, the first floor is leased to a restaurant operator. This, in itself, led to legal issues which took a while to resolve and a further complication was the requirement to install fire and sound proofing between the two floors. Because of the grade A listing Historic Environment Scotland became involved and then planning permission had to be obtained. After a favourable decision from the planning department contractors had to be sought and in February this year work began on the entire building - you may have noticed scaffolding incasing the building, containers in the courtyard and the car park and a general hive of acitivity. During this period the museum had to close. 

All of a sudden everything has come together. The contractors finished their work at the end of March and since then our volunteers have been undertaking a deep clean of the museum, reviewing old exhibits, some of which have been retired, and created new ones. It is still the same museum with most of the beloved artefacts still in place but with a fresh look. We will now re-open on Wednesday 15th April.

In addition, on 25th March,  the Council and STA signed the legal documents which transfered the ownership of the ground floor of the Tolbooth and the courtyrads to STA. After 5 years of discussions, pitfalls, heartbreak and frustration we can now say that the museum has a permanent home and we can preserve the history of Stonehaven for the generations to come. None of this would have occurred without the efforts and support of our committee and volunteers and the input of Aberdeenshire Council in resolving outstanding issues.

                                            Please visit the museum - it is genuinely YOUR MUSEUM. The committee and volunteers are the custodians for the future and we look forward to the local community supporting us in appreciating and preserving our heritage