A £10 million observation centre will be built near the lighthouse in Aberdeen with a panoramic view of the city’s coast, harbour, and dolphins. In the meantime, a temporary visitor centre will be built using containers while the project gains crowd-funding, and you can get involved.
Fiona McIntyre, PhD, the founder and director of Greyhope Bay came to RGU on Friday 6th October to talk about the project.
Two years ago Ms McIntyre initiated this project to change the image of Aberdeen from an industrious oil and gas city to one recognised for its unique setting. To do so, Ms McIntyre plans to build a site with a panoramic view to observe the city’s harbour, beach and the dolphins because it is one of the best places in Europe to watch them.
But since it is a £10 million project it will take some time to raise the money needed to construct it. So in the meantime, Fiona introduces 'The Bridge', a project that will "bridge Greyhope bay from where we are today to the point at which the full-scale building is constructed on site".
To make the bridge the project will need people to get involved. If you’re wondering why you would want to get involved, Ms McIntyre has an answer for you: "This is a highly visual project, it’s going to be big profile, it’s about Aberdeen, it’s about an opportunity [and] because you can contribute in whatever capacity you’re willing to."
It is already a big profile as the BBC picked up on the story back in May 2017, and since it has been covered by local newspapers and STV.
You can get involved by coming to one of the sessions and pitching your ideas to gain crowd-funding, or help organise events, and help the project gain more traction. The goal is for Ms McIntyre to build a community to surround herself with during this phase of her project to come up with ideas, create and participate in events, and gain attention.
This project won't just rely on crowd-funding but will challenge the local businesses to donate physical resources in the construction of the final building. The plan is for the building to be “a self-contained unit developed as an eco-project” with solar-power and rain collection.
The crowd-funding campaign starts as of October up until Spring 2018 and in June 2018 the bridge will open its doors for the first time.
If you wish to get involved in the project contact Mr Craig Leith: c.leith1@rgu.ac.uk