A PLANNED new Wetherspoons pub in Edinburgh’s busy Fountain Park has been scrapped after question marks emerged about the site’s commercial viability.
J D Wetherspoon abandoned plans to take over the site of the well-known McCowan’s Brewhouse, which closed in 2024, at the eleventh hour, after a licence had been acquired and planning applications lodged.
McCowan’s Brewhouse was popular with students due to its proximity to Edinburgh Napier’s Bainfield halls of residence.
The decision means that the site, which has been unoccupied for almost two years, will continue to sit vacant.
The former site of McCowan’s Brewhouse (above) has sat vacant for nearly two years
Wetherspoons purchased the site last year and had obtained a licence to serve alcohol, but a building warrant was yet to be granted.
Speaking today, a spokesman for Wetherspoons said: “Wetherspoon no longer has a legal interest in the site. It will not be developing a pub there.”
When pressed on why the site was being abandoned, he said simply that it was a “commercial decision”.
The scheme was far enough along that a planning application was submitted to erect new signage and hoardings, with attached schematics suggesting the pub would be called the “Norris & Parmelee”, after a pair of 19th century American rubber magnates who manufactured wellington boots in Fountainbridge.
These plans – submitted by SR Signs – were lodged on Monday this week, but will now be withdrawn. A spokesperson for SR Signs said the application was the result of a miscommunication between the planners and architects.
Wetherspoons is set to open a new 400-plus capacity pub on Chambers Street, targeted at Edinburgh University students, this July.
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