Plans to transform the Black Watch Museum are gathering momentum, with funds topping £2 million and a further £750,000 lottery bid clearing its first hurdle.
The Black Watch Heritage Appeal needs to raise £3.2 million to buy and develop Balhousie Castle to provide a permanent home for the museum and archive of the regiment in its traditional heartland.
Backers want to expand the castle buildings to offer extra educational space and archive research space, as well as improving the retail and catering facilities and creating more parking space for the expected extra influx of visitors.
Black Watch Museum Trust chief executive Alfie Ianetta has revealed the £750,000 application to the Heritage Lottery Fund had passed on to the second round.
He said, “It’s passed stage one which is an indication of support and a green light to take it to stage two.
“They’re now looking for more detail and we have up to two years to work through our plans and put more meat on the bones.
“They’re wanting to know what we’re going to do and the themes we’ll have and the displays we will put on and how we will engage the general public more than we are doing at the moment.”
He added, “We know from the Heritage Lottery Fund perspective, everything we’re wanting to do is the kind of thing they’re looking to support in terms of education and heritage. We are making sure we have the facilities here to cope with doubling the numbers visiting in the next five years.”‘Really positive’Mr Ianetta is hopeful of local help meeting the shortfall in funding, which will exist even if the lottery bid does succeed.
He said, “We’re really positive about how things are but we’ve a bit still to go and we’re looking for extra funds and also extra volunteers we need as many people as possible to help.
“We’d prefer all the money was in place before we start and we hope with the help of local trusts and big charitable trusts we can bridge the gap.”
Mr Ianetta outlined the plans to Perthshire North parliamentary candidate John Swinney, who was enthusiastic about the museum scheme.
Mr Swinney said, “The Black Watch has such a presence and resonance in Perthshire and it is fantastic that a facility like the museum in historic Balhousie Castle exists in Perth.
“The museum itself is home to two and a half centuries of treasures from Scotland’s oldest Highland regiment.”
He added, “I hope that the second round of the process for funding the redevelopment project is successful and I will certainly pledge my support to these efforts and will do what I can to assist.”