BACKERS OF a bid to create a cultural landmark in Comrie hope to clear a major funding hurdle this month.
Comrie Development Trust (CDT) hopes to hear from the Heritage Lottery Fund about an application to finance its Back to the Futures heritage centre in the heart of Cultybraggan camp.
The development has been the envisaged hub of the community-owned former Second World War POW camp since it was bought from the Ministry of Defence five years ago.
Other, smaller projects have taken precedence since then, as residents and businesses have breathed new life into the collection of Nissen huts and other buildings left on land outside the village.
The trust is now anxiously awaiting news from its prospective funders.
CDT office manager Claire Mullen said: “We’re waiting on the decision on the first stage funding application we have made to the Heritage Lottery and we would expect that in December or January.
“The first stage will be to get it to planning and then make it happen.
“The idea of having a heritage centre at the heart of the camp is an aspiration since the beginning, but these things take time and it’s about prioritising the projects.”
The centre will be based in the jail block in the middle of the camp and the three Nissen huts behind it.
Opened in 1939, Cultybraggan held up to 40,000 prisoners of war, including some of the most notorious Nazis captured by the Allies. Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess, was among them for a time.
The camp was bought through a community right-to-buy option for £350,000 in 2007, after the Ministry of Defence put the historic site up for sale.
It had been feared that the land would be seen as a prime site for house-building, causing a massive growth in the picturesque village of 2,000 people nearby.
According to CDT: “There has been a longstanding aspiration to provide a museum at the camp.
“The former guard’s block, prison and three adjacent Nissen Huts are A-listed structures and are listed on the Buildings at Risk Register, so finding uses for them is therefore a priority for the trust.
“The challenge for the architects was to come up with a design which blended the new and the old to provide both an aspirational and financially self-sustaining space.
“The concept of a Back to the Futures centre was born out of an idea of relearning the lessons of the past in promoting a sustainable future, and to embody this in an iconic building.”
It has been designed by architects Gray Marshall and Associates following input from the community at a pair of workshops.
The Architectural Heritage Fund and Historic Scotland have contributed to the cost of the design, which includes the potential to include areas for a museum/heritage centre, caf, shop, offices, conference room, self-catering accommodation and open air event space.
A planning application for a temporary visitor centre in the camp’s Hut 1 has been made to Perth and Kinross Council.
If approved, it will include heritage exhibitions of the type planned for the permanent centre, as well as a display on sustainable methods of insulation.
arichardson@thecourier.co.uk