A plan to turn the Frigate Unicorn into the centrepiece of a transformed Victoria Dock on Dundee’s waterfront could take two years to produce.
The famous old Dundee ship is destined for preservation and display in the East Graving Dock where a visitor centre will be built in a project that could cost up to £12 million.
The ambitious venture needs to be produced in meticulous detail in order to gain the vital support of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
That task has begun and Michael Clark, chairman of the Unicorn Preservation Society, said it could take up to two years to build a case to take to the HLF.
“This is something we need to do properly to get right and which can’t be rushed through,” he said.
“The idea is that the Unicorn will go into the East Graving Dock next to which will be built a heritage centre telling the story of the ship in the same way that Discovery Point tells the story of the Discovery and Antarctic exploration.
“We are in touch with the National Museum of the Royal Navy and are developing a strategy for the Unicorn in Dundee.
“It would be moved to the East Graving Dock and we don’t yet know if it will sit in some water there or will be lifted out where its hull will be dried out.
“We are looking at the two options and are having a survey of the ship carried out to see what would happen to the Unicorn’s timbers if the ship is completely out of the water.”
Launched 190 years ago and a resident of Dundee for 136 of them, one of the world’s six oldest sailing ships still afloat is in a race against rot.
Conventionally built wooden ships were designed to flex under stress but the Unicorn is so aged that its hull’s hog (upwards curve) has grown from one-and-a-half inches in 1972 to more than two feet.
The expert opinion is that the ship should not remain afloat and be exposed to the weather without greater protection for much longer.
Victoria Dock would become a 400-berth marina, and Dundee City Council is looking for a partner to run the project for the next two decades
Mike Galloway, director of city development, said: “One of the key things that we want to do is to widen the City Quay area to make use of the water itself.
“We have spent the last couple of years putting together business plans, viability studies, looking into the prospect of a large, leisure marina being located in Victoria Dock.
“Those studies have shown that if the infrastructure can be provided, then there is a viable business proposition.
“We are using the council zone to try to deliver this project so we are in the midst of discussing and negotiating with Forth Ports, the owners of the port, to take out a very long lease on the marina, and to upgrade those and install all of the infrastructure necessary for a 400-berth marina.”