WC to become tourist magnet

Jul 15 2011 by Denis Brown, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

AMBITIOUS plans to transform a dilapidated former public loo into a state-of-the-art tourist magnet are in the pipeline at Dunkeld.

Presently an ugly duckling neighbouring the Duchess Anne Hall at The Cross, the boarded-up 112 sqm building is set to become a modern museum.

Dunkeld Cathedral’s Chapter House Trust, which bought the defunct lavvy for the princely sum of £3000 from Perth and Kinross Council, has commissioned an Edinburgh architect to redesign the space.

Plans lodged with PKC show a new glazed entrance and pressed fascia, with a humidity-controlled interior housing the Chapter House Museum and Archives and public reading area.

Run on a voluntary basis by the Friends of Dunkeld Cathedral, the collection of community and family memorabilia and records, including Scottish Horse Regimental Records, is presently in the cathedral itself.

But as Trust chair Col David Arbuthnott explained, accessing the unique collection involves clambering up 45 steps to reach a cramped space only open for two hours on Mondays or by appointment.

“It’s not an ideal arrangement,” he said yesterday.

“So with the new museum we’re hoping to open more frequently, although that will depend on the availability of volunteers.

“The collection is an invaluable community asset and includes parish records dating back to the 18th Century and books as old as 16th Century.

“We also have the regimental records of the Scottish Horse Regiment of Dunkeld, that existed from 1901 to 1956.”

Architect David Reid with Watson Burnett Architects said the old WC’s location next to the Duchess Anne Hall was originally laid out in 1676 as a formal tree-lined avenue leading up to Dunkeld House.

The since-demolished building was the magnificent residence of the Duke of Atholl, designed by renowned Scottish architect Sir William Bruce.

He said the project provided an opportunity to re-establish the important vista leading from the square, with the interior’s exposed laminated timber columns suggesting the former tree-lined avenue.

“The proposed use of European Larch for this element will reflect the historical significance of this, now common, species which was first introduced to Britain from the Tyrol, by the 2nd Duke of Atholl in 1738,” he said.

Col Arbuthnott estimated the project’s total cost at £150,000, the lion’s share of which would be made up with grants from the Lottery Fund and other community organisations.

“Once we have all the funds then we plan to start construction in spring next year and finish in six months.”

He said the museum would be an extra drawcard for tourism and had the blessing of local groups.

Chair of Dunkeld and Birnam Community Council, Nan Johnston, said that securing the WC’s title had been tricky for the trustees as the land was part owned by the National Trust for Scotland, Atholl Estate and PKC.

“The new museum will be a really good thing for the town in general, especially as the old toilets have become an eyesore,” she said.

“It’s been boarded up with chipboard panels that kids have been pulling off and water has got in and damaged the harling, so it’s really starting to deteriorate,” she said.

“So we are fully supportive of it and yes, it will definitely attract more visitors.”