The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Quay player – and not just at riverside
Mike Galloway has overseen the transformation of large parts of Dundee since he joined the city council in 1997.
As well as the ongoing waterfront redevelopment, other parts of the city have been radically transformed over the past 21 years, from the construction of the new Overgate centre to the demolition of several multi-storey blocks.
Born in Aberfeldy, he was raised in the east end of Glasgow before his family moved to Perth, where he attended Perth Academy.
Mr Galloway then completed a BSc (Hons) Town and Regional Planning from Dundee University, graduating in 1979.
He spent the next 18 years working across the UK on various urban regeneration projects, including Crown Street in the Gorbals in Glasgow.
He then returned to Dundee in 1997 and began work on the waterfront project. After three years of consultations the final masterplan was approved in 2000.
Mr Galloway, now 61, was then involved in the initial discussions in 2006 about bringing an offshoot of the V&A to Dundee.
Plans for the museum were revealed in 2007, with an anticipated opening date of 2014.
Despite delays, and the cost of the project rising from £45 million to £80.1m, it has been credited with raising Dundee’s profile internationally and is expected to bring tens of thousands of visitors to the city. It will open in September. Speaking to his alma mater about the V&A, he said: “The project has been 12 years of my working life and to now be so close to it opening and becoming the centrepiece of Dundee waterfront is both rewarding and humbling.
“I began the waterfront project 21 years ago when I returned to Dundee, having previously worked all across the UK on various urban regeneration projects.
“I thought I would be here in Dundee for perhaps five years, but the place and the challenge got under my skin and I’m glad, so glad, I stayed to see it through.”