As Spurtle prepared to attend and report on this evening's meeting at Central Hall, we unexpectedly received the following statement by Robert A.M. Stern.
Stern is an author and internationally recognised practising architect. He was Dean (1998–2016) and J.M. Hoppin Professor at Yale School of Architecture.
We reproduce his contribution to the debate unedited and in full.
Thomas Hamilton's Royal High School (1829) is a masterful composition of great architectural importance, both in Scotland and around the world. That it might be compromised by proposed plans to convert it into a hotel, with the addition of guest-room wings, is unfortunate to say the least. The compromises to Thomas Hamilton's Neo-Classical landmark that this conversion would entail seem far too high a price to pay for sacrificing a building that has for almost two centuries been a key player on Calton Hill, the Acropolis of Scotland's Athens.This significant and beautiful building deserves no less than a thorough and much needed restoration, after which it could ably serve as a public monument, ideally as a school.
Our report on tonight's events, and on yesterday's presentation by the hotel developers to the New Town & Broughton Community Council, will appear online tomorrow.
UPDATE: Stern's statement was first quoted in a letter to the Herald newspaper on 24 August 2015. However, Spurtle has seen correspondence showing that it was resubmitted on 10 March 2017 in direct response to the latest revised planning applications.