Dundee Museum of Transport has secured a temporary home in the west end to get its exhibitions up and running.
The group wants to house its collection permanently at the old Maryfield tram depot on Forfar Road but will open a temporary base in a former laundry on Roseangle.
The museum chairman, Jimmy McDonnell, said, “We are delighted at the generous offer of space from the owner at no charge to the trust. The empty building will allow us to have an office to coordinate our fund-raising efforts and activities and, most importantly, to continue to gather, store and catalogue artefacts and items relating to Dundee’s rich transport history.
“Our main objective is for Maryfield tram depot but this will be a temporary office place and we’re going to have a small display area. We are going to be a bit restricted for space here but we will have a revolving small display here and maybe some stuff outside.
“We’ve an RAF Tornado jet promised to us from Leuchars and we want to get an exhibition ready to do something in time for WestFest in June.”
Vice-chairman Terry Small had been in talks with the McManus Galleries to acquire memorabilia associated with the Tay Bridge disaster before he was taken ill last week.
The museum committee is now looking for help to clear the site on the corner of Roseangle and Greenfield Place.
“We want to get the Claverhouse Group involved and the criminal justice department to help us start work on tidying up here,” Jimmy said.
Committee member Nigel Watson added, “We are wanting to get the community involved, too. It’s their museum.”
The group has also secured a five-figure sum from the Dundee Historic Environment Trust supported by Historic Scotland to commission James F. Stephen Architects to carry out a feasibility study at the Maryfield depot.
Jimmy said, “This is the first big step towards securing a permanent home for the museum.”Find out more at dundeemuseumoftransport.co.uk