THE FUTURE
Maryfield Tram Depot
Dundee Museum of Transport is currently based in temporary premises at Market Mews on Market Street in Dundee. Whilst we continue to improve our visitor services and exhibits at Market Mews, we are preparing for a move to a bigger site.
We intend to move to Dundee’s only remaining building which celebrates our city’s tram history – the Maryfield Tram Depot.
The Maryfield Tram Depot is located in the heart of the Stobswell area between Stobsmuir Park and Morgan Academy on the Forfar Road.
Early in 2015 we were able, with assistance from Dundee City Council, to purchase the tram depot and surrounding two acres of grounds.
The now dilapidated 120m long building has been on the ‘Buildings at Risk’ register since 2010 and is Grade B listed. We now have new and innovative designs from local architect Andrew Black and his team that will give Dundee a world-class transport museum housed in an iconic building. Efforts are underway to secure the £4 million funding to turn our designs into reality.
You can register your support for the project in a number of ways: registering for our email newsletter, signing up to be a member, making a donation, volunteering at the museum, or visiting us at our current home on Market Street.
HISTORY
Maryfield Tram Depot
Maryfield tram depot was initially constructed in 1901 on the Forfar Road site just north of the Morgan Academy.
It was 60m long and one of Dundee’s main tram depots.
It was extended in 1913 and then again in 1920 to its final length of 120m. The building could house up to 70 trams.
With the end of Dundee’s tram network in 1956, the building became home to some of Dundee Corporation’s bus fleet, combining a maintenance area and paint shop. When no longer required as a bus depot in the mid 1970s, the building passed into the hand of Scottish Water. Little use was made of the building thereafter and it gradually fell into disrepair.
In 2002 a fire in the south eastern quarter of the building left that area unroofed and structurally propped. The now Grade B listed building was subsequently added to the ‘Buildings at Risk’ register and remained predominantly unused until acquired by Dundee Museum of Transport in 2015.
The building is still structurally sound but has suffered from years of water ingress from a failed roof covering. The rear roof structure has failed in many places and is propped up with structural scaffolding. The two acres of adjacent grounds are overgrown and the cobbled forecourt area is in need of renovation..
The plans developed over the last two years by Dundee Museum of Transport will save the building from almost certain extinction, restoring the original 1901 section to it’s former glory and adapting the later additions with a new supporting steel structure and contemporary roof covering. We will move the entrance to the centre of the building, create a new roadway into the site from the Forfar Road and develop the outside space to offer an area that can be used both by the museum and for community led events.
Dundee Museum of Transport at the United Nations
Beating 264 proposals from 48 countries, Dundee Museum of Transport will be exhibiting alongside 7 other organisations from around the globe this year, at Glasgow Science Centre from June until November 2021, before and during the largest international summit in UK History- the United Nations Conference of the Parties 26.
The task is to re-imagine the Museum as a force of creativity, social change, and carbon neutrality. We will be exhibiting our plans for the refurbishment of the Grade B listed Maryfield Tram Depot, which will become the future home of Dundee Museum of Transport in 2024. It will become the first carbon neutral transport museum in the UK, complete with ground-source heating system, LED lighting, and solar panels. Additionally, the exhibition will showcase Dundee, and what it offers as a forward-looking sustainable transport city.
The current Museum is not without its innovations. Last year saw the opening of a Future of Transport Exhibition at the Museum, showcasing new technology and some electric vehicles from the past. The Museum is making moves towards reducing its carbon footprint by 37% by installing double glazing, insulation and LED lighting.
More information about the climate change conference can be found here: https://ukcop26.org/
