Dundee Has Much To Shout About

Well I’ve lamented the City of Dundee in so many previous posts that it is a welcome opportunity to comment on something positive. The regeneration of the waterfront has already started. You can begin to see the layout and visualise what it will look like when finished. The realignment of the entrances to the Tay Road Bridge is well established and nearby the demolition of the former Tayside Regional Council headquarters, Tayside House is progressing.  In order to avoid damage to the railway tunnel below, the use of explosives is not permitted.  Therefore we are seeing a gradual eating away of the building from top to bottom by a huge piece of demolition plant called “The Muncher”. This has attracted a lot of local attention and TV presenter Lorraine Kelly has tweeted her joy that the building will soon disappear.

Further along the road the former and once grand Tay Hotel turned doss house has been given a major renovation and make-over by hotel chain Malmaison.  This will return a once fine building to its former glory.

The Olympia swimming baths recently allowed people to come in for free in the final week before closing for business and are now part of Dundee history. The replacement, also called Olympia is ready to open and videos of the pool and slides have been circulating on Facebook.

All of these will play a supporting role to the most major project in Dundee in my life time, the V&A Design Museum.  The original plan was to locate the building in the River Tay, as though it appeared floating but this has been amended (due to cost) and now it will occupy the site that will be vacated by the old Olympia.

The bid to be the UK City of Culture for 2017 has added further excitement as it was announced that Dundee has made the shortlist of four alongside Swansea, Leicester and Hull. Having been lambasted for so many years, it is a good time to be in Dundee.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/dundee/dundee-makes-uk-city-of-culture-shortlist-1.104322

Dundee has made the shortlist for the UK City of Culture in 2017 — but east coast rival Aberdeen is out of the running.  It will now compete against Hull, Leicester and Swansea Bay in the final run-in for the prestigious prize.

The only other Scottish entry, that of Aberdeen, failed to make the shortlist after a total of 11 bids were considered by an independent advisory panel chaired by Phil Redmond.  However, it looks like Dundee has ground to make up if it hopes to claim the prize after bookies installed Swansea as the favourite.

William Hill make Swansea their 2/1 narrow favourite to win the coveted accolade. Leicester is 9/4, Hull 11/4 and Dundee is the 7/2 outsider. “The shortlist is very strong and all four are very much in with a chance,” said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams. “Swansea has been the best backed and starts as our favourite but the betting is very close.” The other failed contenders were Chester, East Kent, Hastings and Bexhill on Sea, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Southampton, and Southend-on-Sea.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said: “I want to congratulate the four shortlisted cities who have made it this far, and indeed all 11 cities who put time and great effort into submitting bids. “The events in Derry-Londonderry over recent weeks highlight just how much of an impact being ‘City of Culture’ can have. “It brings together communities, encourages economic growth, and inspires social change and the shortlisted cities should be very proud of the bids they have put together so far.”

Mr Redmond added: “It was incredibly difficult to decide on a shortlist as all the bids recognised the power of culture to bring about social change and offered innovative and interesting programmes.

“In the end the panel thought the four short listed cities offered plans that were ambitious, realistic and would not only deliver for their communities, but would also maintain the momentum created around the success of Derry-Londonderry.”

Southend’s failure will be a particular disappointment for Tory MP David Amess.  Mr Amess (60), who represents Southend West, reportedly said: “I have looked at some of the competition and frankly they are absolute dumps some of them. I better not say more because I’ll get into trouble, but I really think it is Southend which jumps out.”