It may be another two years before the first brick of the proposed offshoot of the Victoria and Albert Museum is laid, but the project has progressed at a rapid pace since it was first put forward nearly four years ago.
Former First Minister Jack McConnell announced that Dundee University was investigating a link-up with the museum when he visited Dundee on the campaign trail in May 2007.
A feasibility study was commissioned that year to look at what benefits opening a branch of the museum could bring to the city.
When it was published at the end of 2008 it predicted the museum would create hundreds of jobs and bring millions of pounds into the Tayside economy.
However, at the stage the dream of bringing the V&A to Dundee had little concrete support other than the backing of politicians.
It was not until August 2009 the Scottish Government pledged to give the project financial support, although no sums were available until earlier this week when it was revealed it would provide £4.8m in the next financial year with a promise of more to come in subsequent years.
Securing state support for the plan is seen as key to attracting private investors, as well as winning grants from other bodies such as the National Lottery and the EU. The government pledge helped the project gather pace and in January last year Dundee City Council revealed that a site had finally been chosen for the building out into the Tay itself.
A competition was launched to find an architect for the museum and three months later a new group, Dundee Design Ltd, was set up to continue driving the V&A project forward. Alliance Trust chairwoman Lesley Knox was appointed chief executive.Design prestigeIn September Design Dundee revealed a final shortlist of six designs for the museum. Whittled down from more than 120 entries, the list included architects from across the globe.
A public exhibition offered people the chance to put forward their views on the designs before the eventual winner was announced in November.
Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s design, which harked back to Dundee’s nautical past, was a popular winner and now, just two months later, the Scottish Government has finally revealed its initial funding package for the museum.
The aim is still for construction of the museum to be completed by 2014. Kengo Kuma and his team will spend the next few months finalising their design while Design Dundee Ltd continues with the real hard work securing the rest of the funding for the project.
They hope the Scottish Government will ultimately meet a third of the total cost, with the remained split between private sources and grants.
Before work begins the Olympia centre next to the site will need to go. It will not be demolished until the construction of its replacement is completed in September 2012.
It means a long wait until visible signs of the V&A appear on Dundee’s waterfront but the project is already more than half way there.