Bosses at HMS Unicorn have unveiled a £26 million plan aimed at securing the future of the historic Dundee ship.
At a meeting of stakeholders held on Tuesday night, museum director Matthew Bellhouse Moran outlined details of their ambitious ‘Project Safe Haven’ plan.
This will see HMS Unicorn moved to East Graving Dock from its current location, becoming the centre piece of the new Dundee Maritime Heritage Centre.
New CGI images were also displayed at the meeting, showing how the attraction could look if the multi-million investment is secured.
Speaking at the event, Mr Bellhouse Moran said: “It’s now or never for Unicorn.
“The next five to ten years are absolutely critical because (the ship’s faults) are getting worse and they cannot be answered without dry-docking.
“We need to do three things: We need a functional dock, a revenue generating museum, and we need to safeguard the future of the ship through conservation.
“These images show Unicorn in the graving dock and covered over to prevent rainwater because this is what causes the rot.
“And taking the museum out of the ship gives us café, retail and hire space and it all goes towards making this a sustainable project.”
It’s hoped that around 50% of the estimated £26 million price tag of Project Safe Haven will be funded through a bid to the National Lottery, as well as cash from the the Tay Cities Deal.
This leaves around £13 million in funding still to raise, which bosses at HMS Unicorn are optimistic about achieving.
“I’m not going to lie, it will be expensive”, Mr Bellhouse Moran said.
“We have submitted a prospective bid to the National Lottery Heritage fund, which is a culmination of four years’ work.
“It comes to about two-and-a-half thousand sides of A4 and it represents all of the work we have been doing behind the scenes.
“We’re not naïve and we know the lottery is not guaranteed but what this represents is a plan.
“There are actions, routes forwards and things we can now do to go ahead and ask for support.”
Conversation