One of Dundee’s biggest regeneration projects in decades could see the Wellgate transformed from a shopping centre into a major college campus, bringing hundreds more people into the city centre every day.
Dundee and Angus College is developing a £265 million programme which would eventually see it leave its Kingsway Campus and establish a new base on the Wellgate site, while also expanding Gardyne and creating a new town-centre campus in Arbroath.
The £265m figure covers the wider three-site programme rather than the Wellgate development alone, but it is the Dundee city-centre element which could have the most visible impact on the surrounding area.
New designs unveiled in September show how the eastern end of Dundee city centre could be radically reshaped, with a modern college building opening towards the surrounding streets and a new pedestrian route through the site.
The proposals would effectively reverse a trend which has seen major institutions and services move away from traditional town and city centres over previous decades.
Instead of asking students to travel to the Kingsway Campus on Old Glamis Road, the college wants to put education, training and employment services directly into the heart of Dundee.
The college currently supports around 15,000 learners each year across its campuses, with 98 per cent coming from the surrounding area.
An economic study commissioned by the college estimates the Dundee campus alone could increase city-centre footfall by between 600 and 800 people a day.
That could have an impact on businesses around the Murraygate, Panmure Street and the wider city centre as students and staff spend money in shops, cafés, restaurants and other businesses.
The college argues the development could also help make the area more attractive for further private investment.
The Wellgate has been identified for years as one of the biggest regeneration opportunities in central Dundee.
Dundee City Council’s long-term city-centre plan has acknowledged changing retail habits and suggested the site could eventually move away from being predominantly a traditional shopping centre.
Earlier council concepts envisaged redevelopment helping reconnect the Murraygate with the Hilltown, creating better pedestrian links and introducing a wider mixture of uses.
The college proposal now offers a potential anchor for that transformation.
Plans revealed so far include a green pedestrian thoroughfare between the Murraygate and Hilltown, potentially opening up a part of the city centre which has historically been dominated by the large enclosed shopping centre.
It would also be intended as more than somewhere students simply arrive for classes.
The college wants to bring education together with employment and support services, creating a central hub where people could access training, skills and advice from different organisations.
Public-facing facilities could include a café, training restaurant and hairdressing and beauty services, helping keep the building active beyond traditional classroom use.
Principal Simon Hewitt has said the project is “not simply about replacing buildings”, but about creating places which respond to the changing needs of students, employers and communities while contributing to the region’s economy.
The Wellgate’s location could also make the college considerably easier to reach without a car.
It is close to Dundee’s main bus routes and Bell Street, while the railway station and bus station are within walking distance.
There would also be another major development opportunity created elsewhere in Dundee.
If the Wellgate move goes ahead, the existing Kingsway Campus, which opened in 1963, would close, leaving a substantial site available for another use.
The economic case commissioned by the college estimates the complete £265m transformation across Dundee and Angus could produce £1.8 billion of benefits during construction and the first 20 years of operation.
That estimate includes benefits from employment, qualifications, regeneration, reduced running costs and environmental improvements. The report also estimates £138m of economic benefit from construction and related supply-chain activity.
The project, though, is not yet fully funded and construction at the Wellgate is not imminent.
The Scottish Funding Council awarded Dundee and Angus College £700,000 earlier this year to develop the business case for the first phase of the programme, focused on a new Green Skills and Innovation Hub at Gardyne.
An outline business case for that phase has since been submitted. Funding the much larger Wellgate and Arbroath developments remains the key challenge.
The college has been examining different funding models and brought together finance and infrastructure specialists at a showcase in Dundeelast month. The final funding package for the overall programme has yet to be agreed.
The proposals form part of a ten-year vision, meaning the transformation would be delivered in stages rather than as a single construction project.
If the funding can be secured, the project could give the Wellgate a new sense of purpose and turn one of Dundee’s biggest regeneration challenges into one of its busiest public buildings.