Dundee - My Opinion of the Old vs the New

Dundee may be known as the city of design, but is it all positive change? Many of my most treasured childhood memories were formed in buildings that have since been torn down. I have watched as place after place of special significance to me was reduced to rubble to try and make Dundee, an ever-changing city for as long as I can remember, more attractive for tourism.

One of the first places that I remember being changed to “create a better Dundee” was the Gardyne Campus of Dundee and Angus college. This building was an old, dull, grey brick structure yet between the ages of two and seven, it was somewhere I could not wait to get to, first I started off at nursery there which is where I met some of my friends that I am still in contact with to this day! After leaving the nursery I joined both swimming and gymnastics clubs that took place in the sports halls located in the building. To find out years later that the building was being completely remodelled was something that I found to be quite upsetting.

Original Gardyne Campus, Dundee

Although it was not demolished, the Megabowl is another lost part of my childhood. This was a place you could go for 10 pin bowling and Laser Tag. I had many birthday parties and fun days out to this place because it was the only place to go bowling in Dundee and even now you must travel to Arbroath if you would like to go bowling. After the closure of the Megabowl, the building sat unused for years before the remodel began. In the remodel the building was split in two to create two supermarkets, this was the aim because it would bring in more money and a bigger variation of customers. In my opinion the bowling should have been left where it was because there is nothing like it left in Dundee and in the retail park in which it was located there were many other empty units that could have been used to create supermarkets it was never their only option to close this building.

Dundee Megabowl before its closure

The Dundee waterfront regeneration has had one of the biggest impacts on not only my life but the lives of every other Dundonian in the city. First, the demolition of Dundee Swimming Baths known as ‘The Olympia’, this building had been standing since the 1970’s and was at the heart of the city as well as many of its citizens. I was heartbroken to find out another of my favourite places was going to be torn down to be replaced by a museum. Although the council tried to compensate for this by building a new swimming pool a short stone throw away from the original it will never be seen in the same way as the pervious building. The Olympia was not just seen as a swimming pool, it was at the time a piece of art with murals on both the interior and exterior walls, although it was a cold brick building this created character and to have that come crashing down was something that struck a lot of Dundonians, because of this I feel that many of the people of Dundee from that point on decided not to give the regeneration the light of day, nothing good can come from all our beloved buildings being torn down and replaced.

But sometimes something good comes from the wreckers’ ball. As upset as I was to see my beloved Gardyne Campus demolished, I was also excited. This is because it would give the slightly run down area of Craigiebank a new lease of life, but when it came to all my memories that would be disappearing with the rest of the old structure it did hit a few nerves. Since the remodel I have attended this college as a student and was shocked and pleased to see the result of the redesign, being a design student I had the benefit of seeing the building before and after. Being taught in this new environment and being able to create new memories was one of the main reasons I could come to terms with this complete remodel.

Finally, the V&A, the people of Dundee have mixed views on the pros and cons of construction of this as well as the waterfront regeneration in general. This is because for this to happen, buildings that we have strong connections to have had to be torn down, but also all people are angry at the amount of money that is being focused on the small area in Dundee when there are many more deprived areas in Dundee that could benefit from a regeneration. Although this money has been given to the city specifically to build the train station and V&A people don’t focus on that they just see money coming into the city and think it is being wasted on this small area. Personally, as someone studying design I have been completely bombarded with information about the V&A this means that I have a good understanding of why it is being built where it is and what it is being built in this city for. I have a very positive opinion of the waterfront regeneration mainly due to the design industry emerging its students in all the benefits this will bring to our city. I think if every Dundonian had been given this opportunity there would be a much more positive opinion around the city.

As a Dundonian my opinion of new versus old Dundee is very mixed, on one hand I miss everything that the city has lost because although many of the places that have been demolished are just buildings, they represent much more for me as a citizen. On the other hand, all the new opportunities, that the demolition or redesign of buildings, that have been created are amazing for such a small city like Dundee. Overall I think the waterfront regeneration and all the new buildings that it has brought along with it is such a good thing and I know I speak for many other Dundonians when I say that.