Kinross: The Final Frontier. This is the dream of former glider pilot Alisdair Stewart.
His mission is to explore the science and story of flight and space exploration, to seek out new tourism opportunities and boldly go where no man has gone before by creating Scotland’s first aerospace centre.
Mr Stewart is chairman of theKinross-shire Partnership, a ruraldevelopment company funded by Perth and Kinross Council.
It has unveiled its vision for Aero Space Kinross (ASK), a plannededucational hub and visitor attraction focusing on aviation and space flight.
The aim of ASK is to create an “iconic” new leisure venue that will attractpeople from all over Scotland.
It would include a fully-immersive 3D planetarium, a flight motion simulation, lecture theatre, an exhibition telling the story of flight, astronomy and space exploration, a showcase for aviation charities, plus a restaurant and coffee shop.
Mr Stewart said: “The Kinross-shire Partnership identify and encourage opportunities for economicdevelopment, tourism and community recreation. It occurred to me that there are lots of different types of flightactivities going on in the Kinross area. This includes gliding, micro-lighting, general aviation and skydiving, so there are a lot of people who are air-mindedin the area.
“I spent around 12 months doing research and attending visitorattractions across the UK and in the United States to build up this picture of what might be possible.
“I think we can get 50,000-plusvisitors a year to this project. We will look to create a Disney-style experience where people can immerse themselves in space and flight.
“There is a National Air and Space Museum in Washington that is the most visited museum in the country with nine million visitors.
“If you can do air and space in the middle of Washington, why can’t you do it in Kinross? There is a national space centre at Leicester but that is the only one in the UK. We have nothing like it in Scotland.”
The Kinross-shire Partnership, Dundee Business School, AbertayUniversity and Perth College haveconducted research and identified atarget market that includes 2.75 million people living within one hour’s drive of Kinross, schools across the region and corporate events, exhibitions, galadinners and private parties.
Mr Stewart added: “The first major challenge for such an ambitious project will be obtaining funding.
“Several months of relationship development with potential trusts, foundations, corporate and governmentagencies lie ahead before we will know whether or not this concept will ‘fly’.”