A former resident of the Alexander Street multis has expressed his sadness following the demolition of his childhood home.
Jimmy McLean (42) grew up in Jamaica Tower with his mother and father between its opening in 1968 and 1985.
Far removed from the impressions that many have of life in the multis, Mr McLean speaks of an idyllic childhood and admits he was upset to see his former home razed to the ground.
Speaking of his memories, Mr McLean said, “The thing that really sticks out with me was the summertime. The mums would be sitting on blankets, the dads would go to the pub and then everybody would meet up. It was terrific fun.
“Certainly in the 70s and 80s they were full of nice people. Everybody worked and I think it was only in the mid-80s when I left that a lot of DSS people moved in.”
For many Dundonians multis are stigmatised with reputations for drug abuse and anti-social behaviour.
For younger generations it is almost unbelievable that the Carnegie, Jamaica, Maxwelltown and Wellington buildings were seen as a revolution in social housing when constructed in 1968, granting many people their first chance to live in a new property and providing a means of escape from tenements.
It was only over time that the concierge service gave way to CCTV cameras.
Although he left just before the reputation of the multis fell into decline, Mr McLean admitted that it was still emotional knowing that his old home is no more.Jamaica TowerHe retains many fond memories from his time in Jamaica Tower.
“Everybody there knew everybody else and never in my 18 years did I hear of a burglary or any sort of crime taking place,” he added. “But things are different now and tower blocks do have something of a bad name, even though a lot of good people live in them.
“I think it will really hit home coming over the Tay bridge and not seeing them there anymore.”
Many who gathered to watch the demolition from Gallagher Retail Park on Dock Street shared the sadness felt by Mr McLean.
Linda Clark from Broughty Ferry said, “It would have been nice to see them refurbished and sold on. There are a lot of young people looking for first-time homes or they could even have been given to a housing association.”
Ailsa Young, also from Broughty Ferry, admitted that she too was sad to see the skyline change. “It doesn’t look quite as busy anymore.”
She added, “There must have been reasons to get rid of them, but there are a lot of homeless people out there and you wonder if they could have been used to help them.
“I’m glad I came today, though they went down very quickly.”
Frank McMullan, from Lundin Links, added, “I waited for over an hour and they disappeared in seconds. It was nice to see it, although it feels like the end of an era in some ways.
“All of these old buildings are coming down and the new ones just look the same.”