A number of city institutions, including R W Forsyth department store on Princes Street, the Ritz Cinema on Rodney Street and jewellers Abbott of Greyfriars, were to disappear for good.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
A fancy new cocktail bar, Charlie Parker’s, opened up on George Street, the Edinburgh Fringe was more popular than ever and the entire city went Royal Wedding daft to celebrate the marriage of Princes Charles and Diana Spencer.
In sport, there was success for Scotland at Murrayfield against Australia, while ex-Man Utd and Hibs star George Best brought his glamorous new team, the San Jose Earthquakes, to Easter Road.
We’ve had a deep dig through the archives at the Evening News to bring you 17 memories of Edinburgh in 1981.