The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Launch day for cultural hub
Dunfermline’s library and galleries hailed for mix of old and new
Dunfermline’s £12 million cultural hub, which opens today, has been hailed for its mix of old and new by Fife Council chief executive Steve Grimmond.
He said there was a physical and metaphorical bridge between the world’s first Carnegie Library and the new architect-designed addition that make up the Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries.
“It is a statement and metaphor for Dunfermline, respect for the heritage and culture but a collaboration in a way which is very contemporary and modern and of now. It says something about Dunfermline’s ambitions for its future.”
Richard Murphy Architects won the competition to design the building at the heart of the ancient capital’s heritage quarter some years ago.
The reality has changed very little from the original concept, although acquiring a local car park “unlocked” a problem with creating a fitting entrance to the new complex.
“Things move around – that is all part of the fun of designing a building.”
In days of library closures, he believed the integrated facilities would be symbiotic.
“It is the same story with the DCA, which we designed – you put a number of facilities together in one building and they end up being more than the sum of their parts.”
Mr Murphy believed the libraries, galleries and museum – winner of two architectural awards before even opening – would become a social centre and “a place where you go to meet people. I think people will just enjoy being in it.”
Dunfermline Central Councillor Jim Leishman is on the wall of famous faces in the upper gallery, alongside everyone from Dunfermline-born steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and Queen Margaret to singer Barbara Dickson and Big Country’s Stuart Adamson.
“I think a lot of people will be using it,” said the Pars legend.
“We have got to try to keep encouraging people to come in. This is a great building. I like the mixture of the past, present and future,
“The whole building is fantastic and I am very proud of it,” he said.
Work began on the development in December 2014 and it was handed over to Fife Council and Fife Cultural Trust in time for this week’s opening.
It was funded thanks to Fife Council, which committed £8.6 million to the scheme, the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust which contributed £1m and a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £2.8m.
Trust chief executive Heather Stuart said: “It’s been a long journey to get here – over 10 years.
“It is of the local community and of local people and I hope they love it as much as we do.”
It is of the local community and of local people and I hope they love it as much as we do. HEATHER STUART