“If it’s my gaff, it’s Rooms.”
This was the deal made when planning nights out during the seven happy years I spent living on Victoria Road in Dundee.
From my front window, you could almost see straight to the door of the old Reading Rooms nightclub on Blackscroft – and assess the length of the queue before you set off, merry and ready to dance the night away.
Or, as I so often did, stand in the spacious smoking area and chat rubbish with the stoners until the wee hours.
I was the only one of my pals who lived nearer the east end of the town, with everyone else huddled up round the Perth Road.
So in payback for the many nights I spent trekking back from house parties at their flats, I insisted that if I was hosting, we were going to my local.
It was a fantastic nightclub, the best in Dundee as far as I was concerned. But all good things sadly come to an end.
Shortly after Reading Rooms was finally closed down, I moved on too.
I haven’t been to a nightclub since – partly out of loyalty, mainly out of an inability to withstand the hangover.
But every time I’ve driven past that building since, I’ve thought: “What a waste.”
Restaurant will be valuable addition to area
Rooms certainly had its faults, but the building itself – formerly the St Roque’s Library – had a magic about it.
That grand old carved sign has sat looking over nobody for too long.
So I was delighted to hear this week that it’ll have new life breathed into it with plans to convert it to a boutique restaurant.
Now this is a Reading Rooms I can see myself going back to Blackscroft for.
Dundee’s nightlife has been struggling for years, and while I’m all for supporting small venues, we need to accept that there’s an upper limit on how many this city can have before they start splitting their audiences.
Add on the fact that young people are drinking far less than even my lot did at uni, and the reasoning for a bistro over a late-night bar becomes clear.
A decent sit-in restaurant within five minutes of my flat would have been a huge draw for me during my Victoria Road years.
And this new food spot will benefit from the football from the nearby retail park, with its shiny new M&S, plus several nearby hotels.
Not to mention that the plan includes new housing, something Dundee is constantly crying out for.
The additional plan of a redeveloped green space next door on the patch of unloved land completes the picture of what could potentially be a really well thought out, compact and desirable Blackscroft.
Nostalgia is lovely, but it’s time to move on
It’s nice to see the city developing in places other than the waterfront and the west end.
Of course, there are the naysayers.
These seem to fall into two categories. The first is the nostalgics, still pining for the old Rooms.
With them, I sympathise, but I have to say – let’s get on with it. That time, however fun, has passed.
Then there are the sceptics, wondering why any private would bother to develop such an unloved wee area.
I’m no businesswoman, but I’d wager it has something to do with the potential to capitalise on the lingering love that people like me have for this building.
I’d eat there just to go there again. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Dundee is on the up despite the downers
Overall, Dundee’s full of great ideas at the moment – and common sense ones too.
The new Dundee and Angus College plans for the Wellgate, the LiveHouse venture at the former Mecca Bingo hall, the street food market in the Old Mill, and now this Blackscroft development are combining to produce – dare I say it? – a pretty optimistic picture.
The caveat is, of course: will it all come off? And how much will it really cost?
I’m not starry-eyed about these big ideas. But I refuse to be pre-emptively disappointed, the way so many in Dundee choose to be.
I’m looking forward to entering my 30s and walking through the doors of my 22-year-old self’s favourite nightclub while the sun’s still out.
Things change. We make the best of it.
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