V&A Museum plans for Dundee launch
Plans for the city of Dundee to become an outpost of the Victoria and Albert museum are afoot.
Supporters of the project claim that it could showcase the city's design heritage, including computer gaming and comics.
It is suggested that the Dundee version of the V&A could be housed in a new £42m building, as part of the city's waterfront development (location pictured) and Dundee City Council has launched an architecture competition for the “world class” outpost.
Dubbed “V & Tay” the centre for art and design will abut onto the river Tay alongside the frigate Unicorn as centrepiece of the cities redeveloped waterfront.
Backed by both Abertay and Dundee universities and Scottish Enterprise it is hoped the museum can become a centre for the creative industries.
Funded through public bodies and private donations the centre will house a research centre, exhibition venue and specialist collections of contemporary design.
Its creation will fulfill the V&A’s ambition to share its collections, exhibitions, skills and resources across the country and internationally.
A feasibility study, to be presented at conference in the city, suggests the museum could open by 2013, attracting more than 400,000 visitors.
The idea is a joint project between the Victoria and Albert Museum, Dundee University and Dundee City Council.
The conference, in the University of Dundee's Dalhousie Building, will feature contributions from Mark Jones, director of the V&A, where there will also be a presentation of the main findings of the feasibility study.
The business plan suggested the Dundee museum could feature local strengths in illustration, comics, animation, interactive media and computer gaming.
It predicts the V&A in Dundee would employ about 60 staff directly and annual operating costs would be in the region of £2.7m. While it could create 900 jobs in the wider economy.
The museum would bring in £1m per year in revenue, and would therefore require an annual subsidy of £1.7m, it was suggested.