Redeveloping St Columba’s Church as Ionad Solas Eige, a cultural hub celebrating Eigg’s unique history, offering residents and visitors an all-weather space for arts, learning, and climate education.
Estimated Price
1000000
We aim to redevelop St Columba’s Church and its surrounding land into Ionad Solas Eige (Solas Eige Centre): a community-owned cultural and heritage hub at the heart of the Isle of Eigg, rooted in Eigg’s past but focused firmly on its future.
The project aims to:
Repair and conserve the C-listed St Columba’s Church, securing one of Eigg’s few historic buildings for long-term community use.
Create a permanent, publicly accessible home for the Eigg Community Archive with professional storage and digitisation.
Develop engaging interpretation that tells Eigg’s story – from early settlement and faith to the community buy-out and the world’s first community-owned off-grid renewable electricity system – presenting the island as a place of innovation and climate leadership.
Provide flexible, all-weather spaces for workshops, exhibitions, learning programmes, talks, and community activities.
Support skills development and volunteering linked to heritage repair, archive care, interpretation, and visitor engagement.
Deliver a low-carbon retrofit of the historic church and construct an extension for storage, visitor toilets, utilities and archive digitisation, with later phases adding a standalone archive and reading room.
2. Ionad Solas Eige responds directly to challenges faced by Eigg and many fragile island communities. These include the gradual loss of cultural heritage, a lack of suitable cultural and community infrastructure, economic vulnerability driven by seasonal tourism, and limited opportunities for people to participate in culture, learning, and climate action locally.
This project responds directly to needs identified in the Eigg strategic plan by
Securing a historic building in community ownership and protecting an irreplaceable part of Eigg’s heritage.
Safeguarding and sharing the island’s archive
Address seasonality by creating an all-weather attraction that supports more balanced visitor patterns.
3. Ionad Solas Eige will deliver lasting social, cultural, and economic benefits for Eigg by transforming how heritage, learning, and community activity are experienced on the island.
The project will:
Increase understanding and awareness of the island’s history and community achievements.
Expand opportunities for cultural activity, learning, and participation for local people.
Provide routes into volunteering, training, and skills development.
Support a more resilient visitor economy, benefiting local businesses beyond the peak season.
Strengthen community wellbeing through inclusive, all-weather spaces for gathering and shared activity.
Create jobs, support learning, and generate income that stays within the community.
The project will benefit approximately 115 island residents, including 25 local businesses, alongside an estimated 8,000–10,000 visitors each year. Around 50 learners, trainees, volunteers, and artists are expected to engage annually, with wider indirect benefits for the island and regional economy.
4. With support from the Architectural Heritage Fund, Dalrymple and Donaldson Trust, the Scottish Land Fund, and generous donations received through community crowdfunding, we have:
Carried out emergency roof repair
Completed an architectural conservation report and feasibility study
Undertaken community consultation
Developed a detailed business plan
Progressed community acquisition of St Columba’s Church, with ownership transfer expected end of February 2026
Begun enabling works including access, water, and drainage
Successfully crowdfunded 10% of the church acquisition cost
Next steps
Ionad Solas Eige will be delivered in phases. The next phases involve:
Commissioning surveys and progress detailed design with the professional team
Securing further funding for conservation works, building extensions, and fit-out
Preparing for phased capital delivery
Anticipated start : April 2026 , end date: summer 2028
.png)
_page-0001.jpg "solaseigecentre (3)_page-0001.jpg")