Making inroads at Museum of Transport site

A PLAN to move Dundee’s Museum of Transport to a new permanent home could be the “missing piece of the jigsaw” in the city’s tourism masterplan, according to a local MP.

The attraction, which is based in an industrial warehouse at Market Mews, has received a £73,000 grant to begin renovation work at Maryfield tram depot.

The Forfar Road site is thought to be the oldest surviving building of its type in Scotland and workers have begun the process of restoring the cobbled forecourt and surrounding walls and railings to their former glory.

Dundee West MP Chris Law, an enthusiast of vintage transport, said it was “really exciting” to see work finally get started on the museum’s permanent home.

“This i s t he missing piece of the jigsaw in the whole of Dundee’s plans for visitor sites,” he said. “You can’t see it in isolation, you have to see it as part of Dundee’s wider plan.

“When people come here for the weekend to see the V&A and the other things, they’ll also get a chance to see another side of Dundee that perhaps they wouldn’t be expecting.”

The group behind the museum has had plans to set up shop at the Maryfield depot for nearly a decade and can finally press ahead thanks to grants from Dundee Historic Environment Trust (DHET) and Dundee City Council.

Museum bosses hope the new premises will be able to open fully to the public over the next few years but a phased approach means the renovation could yield aesthetic improvements for the historic building in just a matter of months.