By Stefan Morkis

OPENING A Dundee branch of the world-renowned Victoria and Albert Museum would create hundreds of jobs and bring millions of pounds into the local economy, a feasibility study has found.

It is hoped that the museum—the V&A’s first outside London—would revitalise Dundee in the same way as Bilbao after New York’s Guggenheim Museum opened a franchise there in 1997.

The project was announced 18 months ago and the museum would be housed in a bespoke building on Dundee’s waterfront.

It would host two exhibitions a year as well as collections from the V&A in London, which is considered the world’s premier museum of art and design.

Consultants Whetstone Group and Conran & Partners have completed a feasibility study and estimate the museum would create nearly 900 jobs, bring around 130,000 tourists to Dundee every year by 2015 and earn millions for the economy.

Dundee MSPs Shona Robison and Joe FitzPatrick have been working to gain support for the plans and attended a meeting with First Minister Alex Salmond in October when he was briefed on the proposal.

Mr Salmond said, “This is a very interesting idea with lots of potential and I know Dundee’s MSPs are working very hard on it.”

V&A director Mark Jones has also said he is enthusiastic about the plans.

“Dundee is a very interesting city with a creative track record and, by providing exciting exhibitions, I think it could make a difference,” he said.

The museum is likely to be a joint venture between Dundee University, Dundee City Council, Scottish Enterprise and the private sector.

Key stakeholders will be invited to a lecture and seminars on the museum in the Dalhousie Building at the university on February 24 and 25.

Dundee East MSP Ms Robison said, “I am greatly excited by the scale of this project and the ambition it brings to Dundee.

“There will be huge benefits to the city, not just in jobs and economic growth but in the national and international perception of Dundee, which it has the capacity to transform.

“It will be a key component of the new waterfront, connected to and collaborating with existing attractions and organisations in the ‘cultural quarter’.

“The coming of V&A to showcase contemporary creative industries will focus Dundee as Scotland’s premier centre for new media and contemporary culture. But we must all work together to make sure that Dundee grasps this wonderful opportunity.”

Dundee West MSP Mr FitzPatrick said that the museum had “enormous potential” and would help establish Dundee—with less than 5% of Scotland’s tourism market—as a tourist destination.

He said, ““I’ve seen an estimate that this could bring up to 900 jobs and millions extra to the Scottish economy.

“But for it to be successful, we need to fire the imagination of the local community and ensure that everyone gets behind it.

“This is Dundee’s chance to take a huge leap forward.”

Lord Provost John Letford said the museum would be “a rich thing” for Dundee but warned that plans had not yet been finalised.

He said, “Discussions are ongoing but although we can hope something like that would materialise, there are a lot of challenges we have to face first.”

The proposal to bring the V&A to Dundee was first put forward in April 2007 while former First Minister Jack McConnell was campaigning in Dundee.