Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Perth Museum: Visitors give their verdict on opening day

The £27M new Perth Museum has thrown open its doors - and locals say the revamped City Hall is the star of the show

Jamie and Emma McKechnie. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson
Jamie and Emma McKechnie. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

The new Perth Museum has welcomed its first visitors following a £27 million refurbishment of the former City Hall.

Queues began building outside the landmark in St John’s Place, Perth, around noon on opening day.

Visitors of all ages enjoyed a first glimpse of the venue, while local performers entertained the crowds outside.

Large crowd watching enertainment in perth city centre on museum opening day
The city centre was bustling for Perth Museum opening day. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

The museum has opened to the public following an eight-year transformation of the redundant City Hall.

It is the new home of the Stone of Destiny, as well as old favourites from the old Perth Museum and Art Gallery, and rarely seen objects from the Nationally Recognised Perth and Kinross collection.

Person walking past Stone of Destiny experience at perth museum
Perth Museum is the new home of the Stone of Destiny. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson
Display cases full of exhibits at new Perth Museum
The museum is home to objects from Perth and Kinross and around the world. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

The Courier spoke to visitors as they were leaving the museum.

Views were overwhelmingly positive. But for many of the people visiting on Saturday, it was the building itself that stole the show.

Museum is opening a new chapter in Perth City Hall history

Lisa Simpson, 54, from Perth, toured the museum, including the Stone of Destiny experience, and was heading off to hit the shops. She’s a fan of Perth’s newest attraction.

Lisa Simpson, with red curly hair and sunglasses on top of head
Lisa Simpson was among the first inside on Perth Museum opening day. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

“I know a lot of people wanted to flatten the City Hall,” she said. “But when you see what they’ve done here, it was absolutely the right decision to keep it.

“I heard one woman say ‘it still feels like the City Hall’, and I think that’s so important to local people. They’ve got it just right.”

Caroline Buchan, 46, from Murthly, visited while the family were all off doing other things, and is looking forward to returning on a quieter day.

Caroline Buchan with glasses, greying hair and big smile
Caroline Buchan is another fan of the building. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

“It’s just beautiful what they’ve done with the building,” she said. “All that history from this area, and the stories behind things. It’s really nicely done.

“After all these years, and all the debate about what should happen to the City Hall, I think they’ve made a good choice. And if it brings people to the town centre and stops it from dying a slow death that’s got to be good.”

Linda Scott, from Perth, had personal reasons for visiting. Her late husband was clerk of works for the council and looked after the City Hall during the years it lay empty.

Linda Scott, an older lady with short grey hair
Linda Scott has special memories of the old City Hall. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

“I came here for him,” she said. “And I did think ‘I wonder what would he have made of this’. I think he’d have thought it was wonderful.

“I had a quick look round today. But there’s so much to see. I’ll definitely be back. And I really want to see the Stone of Destiny when things quieten down. I think this will be one of the places I come to regularly.”

All ages turn out for Perth Museum opening day

Jamie and Emma McKechnie, from Perth, were enjoying some shopping in the city centre, as well as their visit to the museum.

“We were quite surprised by how much is on display,” said Jamie, 36. “I did think beforehand ‘how are they going to fill a museum with Perthshire stuff’ but there’s loads to see.”

“It’s amazing,” said Emma, 35. “The Carpow log boat was probably my favourite. We’re going to see some of the acts on the stage now and I’ve already bought some gin.”

Ann Spence, from Perth, is another with special memories of the Old City Hall.

Ann Spence, smiling with long fair hair and large sunglasses
Ann Spence was one of the first in the queue for the opening of Perth Museum. Image: Supplied.

“I met my husband here,” she said. “So I had to come down today and see what they had done with it. I really enjoyed it. The Stone of Destiny experience is lovely.”

Alex McKirdy, 66, from Dunkeld, was heading off to meet his wife so they could go for something to eat. He’d stayed on at the museum after her because he was having such a good time.

Alex McKirdy, balding with dark overcoat and unicorn sticker
Alex McKirkdy, complete with unicorn sticker. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

“I left school in 1972,” he said. “And we were never really taught much Scottish history, which is criminal when you think about it.

“I really enjoyed the Unicorn exhibition. I learned a lot. I’ll be back, my nine year-old grand-daughter would love it.”

And Carina Wilson, 40, and her daughter Gabriella, 10, from Aberuthven, were meeting up with husband Steve and his parents, before joining the queue.

Carina Wilson with short dark hair, stripy top and arms around Gabriella, who has long fair curls
Carina and Gabriella Wilson enjoying a family day out. Image: Supplied.

“I’m so excited to see what they’ve done with the City Hall,” said Carina. “I used to stay just around the corner when it was empty, so it’s nice to think of it being full of people again.

“We’re going to have some lunch and a wander round the shops too. It’s great to have something like this to bring people into the city.”

Entertainment continues on Sunday

The Stone was officially welcomed back to Perth by the Lord Lyon of Scotland in a ceremony held outside the museum shortly before it opened.

The Rev Canon Dr Joseph Morrow, the current Lord Lyon King of Arms in red ceremonial dress
The Rev Canon Dr Joseph Morrow, the current Lord Lyon King of Arms, welcomed the Stone of Destiny home ahead of the opening of Perth Museum. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

A series of local entertainers then took to the stage.

Lucas Reid performed a WIlliam Soutar poem and the Perth Gaelic Choir performed a piece called Song of the Stone, which had been specially arranged for the day.

The entertainment continued throughout the afternoon.

Scottish highland dancers watched by a large crowd on stage outside new Perth Museum on opening day
The Perth Museum opening day programme featured a host of local talent. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

A second stage outside Perth Concert Hall featured the likes of the Craigie Choir and Traveller and author Jess Smith.

There were even a pair of Shetland pony-sized unicorns in a corral outside St John’s Kirk, in a nod to the Perth Musem’s opening exhibition.

Two white Shetland ponies with unicorn horns on their heads
All this and unicorns too. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

The entertainment continues tomorrow.

Perth Museum will be open again. It’s free to visit, but visitors need to book in advance to see the Stone of Destiny. There is a charge for the Unicorn exhibition.

Conversation