A NEW group has been formed to spearhead proposals to create a community creative arts centre in Dunfermline.

The plan was initiated by voluntary body Dunfermline Arts and Media, whose co-founder, Ian Moir, now chairs the new body.

Called Projects Arts Dunfermline (PAD), the new team is effectively an interim steering committee which will be pushing for the conversion of Dunfermline’s soon-to-be-vacated fire station into an arts centre, complete with studios, an exhibition space and cafe.

PAD was formed at a well-attended meeting in Carnegie College on Thursday (11th February) and will now set about building up what it intends to be a robust business plan for an arts centre. It will also look at how the project could be funded.

A feasibility study has looked at various buildings which could potentially accommodate an arts centre but has concluded that the fire station, which Fife Council is poised to put on the market, is by far the best option. Now, work is under way on an architectural study which will look at how the fire station could be converted.

“A great deal has been done to show there’s a real need and desire for an arts centre in Dunfermline,” said Mr Moir. “Now, the real work starts … turning a dream that’s shared by a growing number of people into a reality.”

He added, “We keep hearing of various proposals for the fire station, such as its conversion into an hotel. However, we believe that the people of Dunfermline will not forgive this generation if we let this fantastic opportunity to slip from our grasp.

“The fire station is an iconic building and to allow it become a hotel or pub while there is massive support for a proposal which would give Dunfermline a place on the cultural map would be shameful.”

Mr Moir said the new organisation was made up of enthusistic and talented people with the experience and skills needed to push through what he described as “an ambitious yet eminently do-able plan”.

 But he stressed that key to its success would be the continued support of not only artists and other creative people in Dunfermline but the community at large.

“We have a vision to create a community of the arts for the community as a whole,” he said.

Dunfermline Fire Station, a listed Art Deco building in Carnegie Drive, will be vacated next month when the new one built at Pitreavie Business Park is opened.

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DUNFERMLINE MP Willie Rennie has backed proposals to convert the town’s fire station into a contemporary arts centre.

Voluntary group Dunfermline Arts and Media (DAM) believes the Art Deco building, which will be vacated in the new year when the new fire station being built at Pitreavie Business Park is opened, would be ideal accommodation for an art gallery and studios.

And Mr Rennie agrees, saying, “It’s an excellent suggestion and I would be delighted to offer my support.

“I think the fire station would be an ideal home for an arts centre. All the elements seem right.

It’s in a prominent site close to the city centre and would help to meet an unanswered need in the area for such a facility.

“And I would not like the fire station to become another pub or nightclub ¬- and I think many people feel the same.”

DAM is trying to drum up backing for the idea from retail giants Tesco, who are to build a new superstore on the adjacent site formerly occupied by Thomson’s World of Furniture.

“It would be great if they supported us,” said DAM co-founder Ian Moir. “I’m writing to them to ask them to back us, financially if possible.”

A Tesco spokesman said the company was aware of DAM’s proposals and would be “watching developments with interest”.

However, he stopped short of announcing the firm’s support for the fire station idea.

The fire station proposal is being considered in a £6500 study being carried out for DAM by a consultant, who had been asked to consider where and how an arts centre could be set up in Dunfermline. It is understood the study is likely to conclude that the fire station would be the best venue.

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The family of one of Dunfermline’s most distinguished artists has come out in support of ambitious proposals to convert the city’s fire station into a community creative arts centre.

James Cumming RSA, RSW, died in 1991 after a long career as one of the country’s leading artists.

Now, his widow Elizabeth (Betty) and sister-in-law Jess Cumming, who lives in Limekilns, say that creating an arts centre in the fire station would have “absolutely delighted” James, and have offered to help the campaign in any way they can.

“This is a marvellous proposal and I know Jim would have given it his complete support”, said Jess (81).

Born in Dunfermline in 1922, Cumming attended Dunfermline High School and studied at Edinburgh College of Art before and after the Second World War.

A travelling scholarship which saw him spend a year at Callanish on Lewis helped him to establish his artistic credentials, his series of Hebridean paintings having attracted much critical acclaim. His paintings have been described as being “immaculately worked”.

Cumming lectured at Edinburgh College of Art from 1950 to 1982 and he continued to paint at his Borders home until shortly before his death.

His sister-in-law Jess, who owns three of Cumming’s works, said both she and the artist’s widow, who lives in Devizes, had been following the fire station campaign, led by networking organisation Dunfermline Arts and Media (DAM), with great interest and were wholeheartedly behind the proposal.

“I know for sure that Jim would have been absolutely delighted to see an art centre in Dunfermline,”  said Jess, a former teacher.

“I can’t speak on her behalf but I am sure that she would be happy to loan some of Jim’s work to the fire station, if it ever becomes an art centre. It would be a wonderful space in which to exhibit artwork.”

Jess said that she would like to loan some books to the fire station gallery, including a retrospective of Cumming’s work and a new book on portraiture, ‘A Face to  the World’, by Jim’s daughter, Laura, an art critic on the Observer newspaper.

She added that there were two pieces she would particularly like to be shown in the fire station: ‘Man of St Kilda’, by Cumming, and a tapestry, ‘Sir Patrick Spens’, created by his wife Betty, who also attended Edinburgh School of Art. Both currently hang in the Carnegie Central Library, Dunfermline.

Her idea has inspired a suggestion by DAM co-founder Ian Moir that a new contemporary arts centre might one day host a major retrospectiveve of work by Dunfermline’s leading artists: Cumming, Sir Joseph Noel Paton RSA and Adam Westwood RSA.

“It may be that the heritage museum proposed for Dunfermline could also host such an exhibition”, said Mr Moir. “Together, the museum and an arts centre could help to establish Dunfermline on the cultural map and provide a fitting showcase for some of the best artwork this country has produced.”

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THE development of a contemporary arts centre in Dunfermline could have a “huge” impact on the Fife town’s economy, according to the director of Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA).

Volunteer group Dunfermline Arts and Media (DAM) believes the town’s fire fire station, to be vacated early next year when a new station is opened at Pitreavie Business Park, would be an ideal home for a gallery and studios.

And if DAM’s dream came true it would be hugely beneficial to Dunfermline and West Fife, according to the boss of one of the country’s biggest art centres.

Dundee Contemporary Arts was created in 1999 and has developed as a world-class facility for contemporary arts and culture.

Three years after it opened a major study concluded that DCA, developed in a former garage and car showroom in the city centre, had brought “significant community and artistic benefits” to Dundee and Tayside.

And its director, Clive Gillman, said this week that he saw no reason why a contemporary arts centre in Dunfermline would not be similarly succesfsul.

Conducted by economist Steve Westbrook, the DCA study found that the Dundee centre had resulted in the creation of 258 jobs and generated more than £4 million for the region’s economy.
Now, it’s reckoned that DCA generates around £2.5 milllion for the local economy.

The study recognised that DCA had become a “high-profile” role model for the economic benefits that investment in the arts could bring to communities.

Mr Gillman said, “I wish this venture well. We at the DCA are all about supporting a sense of cultural ambition in the city and I think there’s a place for that attitude in all our towns and cities.”
Now, Dunfermline Arts and Media are looking to their new-found friends in the Dundee for inspiration as they aim to progress proposals to convert the Art Deco fire station into an arts centre.

DAM already have the support of Dunfermline and West Fife MP Willie Rennie and welcome the encouragement of bosses at the Dundee centre.

“We know that creating a contemporary arts centre can bring huge benefits to an area both culturally and economically but it’s good to have that confirmed by the experience of the Dundee centre,” said DAQM co-founder Ian Moir.

“I’m grateful for their kind words and just hope that we can persuade others that setting up an arts centre in the fire station would be fantastic for this area.”

Mr Moir raised £6500 from the Big Lottery Fund for a study into the feasibility of setting up an arts centre in Dunfermline. It’s understood that the study, which will be completed soon, will conclude that the fire station would be the ideal building for such a centre. It has a big garage space, which would be an ideal exhibition venue, and a host of rooms which could be used as studios.

MP Willie Rennie also sees another big plus. He’s not keen on the prospect of the fire station being taken over for use as a nightclub or pub.

“It’s not what that part of Dunfermline needs,” he said, “while a centre for the arts would be brilliant there.”

The Dundee centre attracts around 300,000 visitors a year and has hosted works by Andy Warhol, However, centre manager Susan Coghlan stressed that one of its key roles was providing support for local artists ¬- something DAM would see as a priority in Dunfermline.

“The whole artistic community in this area has benefited,” she said, “and local artists are able to display work in the galleries.

“But it’s not just the arts that have benefited. DCA is in what’s been designated Dundee’s cultural quarter, and has helped to attract other, smaller galleries and restaurants and the like to the area.”

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CAMPAIGNERS pressing for the conversion of Dunfermline’s fire station into an arts centre are going global in their quest for inspiration.

Volunteer group Dunfermline Arts and Media (DAM) say they’re astonished to learn that there are scores of former fire stations around the world that are now art galleries or studios.

“I’ve always said that Dunfermline Fire Station looks as if it was built with conversion to an arts centre in mind,” said DAM co-founder Ian Moir. “Now it looks as if that’s true of fire stations in general.

“Most of them, like Dunfermline’s have large garage spaces that would lend themselves for use as exhibition spaces and small rooms that would be ideal for workshops and studios.”

DAM recently commissioned a £6500 study that looked at various options for the creation of a contemporary arts centre in Dunfermline. It has concluded that the fire station ¬ which will be vacated when the new one being built at Pitreavie is opened in the spring – is the No.1 choice
of those buildings looked at.

Now, it’s emerging that similar conclusions have been reached in towns and cities throughout the world – fire stations make great arts venues.

DAM point to three venues in particular: the Firestation Artists’ Studio in Dublin; the transformation of a fire station in London’s East End into the Acme Studios; and the Firestation, an arts and culture centre in Windsor.

The group also learned that in 1963 top artist Andy Warhol established a studio in an abandoned fire station in New York. It was here that he began work on two iconic pieces: a head of film star Elizabeth Taylor and a full-length portrait of Elvis Presley.

DAM saw the Dublin venue as particularly inspirational. A local community organisation that provides training for young people initially saw the vacant fire station as having ideal potential as a multi-use centre. Although that idea didn’t bear fruit, the Arts Council in Ireland secured a long-term lease on the building with a view to creating spaces for visual artists to work.

In Windsor, meanwhile, a fire station was transformed into an arts centre which was closed in 2007 because of inancial problems. However, it re-opened under new management the following year and has since been transformed into a major contemporary arts centre offering everything from music and comedy to the visual arts.

And in London, the Acme Studios have been supporting art and artists since 1972.
However, in 1997 a former fire station was bought with funding from the National Lottery and other sources, and the building has been restored and developed by Acme to provide units in which artists can live and work.

 Since making those discoveries, DAM has been on a mission to find other examples, in the hope that it will persuade the powers-that-be that converting the Fife Council-owned fire station in Carnegie Drive could be an attainable dream.

A surprisingly large number of these are in Australia. Mr Moir said he was particularly impressed by the Old Fire Station Community Arts Centre in Kiama, New South Wales; the Old Fire Station Gallery in Caboolture, Queensland; and the Glenelg Fine Art Gallery in South Australia. DAM’s researches have also uncovered several fire station arts conversions in Victoria state: the Capital, a performing arts centre housed in an old fire station in Bendigo; the Firestation Print Studio in Armadale; the Fire Station Cafe Gallery in Preston; and the Central Goldfields Art Gallery in Maryborough.

Perhaps not surprisingly, DAM also uncovered the existence of arts centres housed in fire stations throughout the United States: in Chicago; Fairhaven, Washington; in Maryburyport, Natuck and Framington, Massachusetts; Louiseville, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Palo Alto, California; and in both San Antonio and Forth Worth, Texas.

DAM has also found some in Auckland and Northland, New Zealand. And, closer to home, in Henley-on-Thames in England.

Three other English initiatives have also caught DAM’s eye: a neighbourhood campaign to covert a former fire station in Dorking, Surrey, into a not-for-profits arts centre; a petition opposing the demolition of a fire station in Sheffield and calling for the building to be coverted into an arts centre; and a call to carry out a similar conversion in Hadleigh, Essex.

As DAM continues to attract support for its proposals ¬ Dunfermline and West Fife MP has given his backing to them ¬ Mr Moir said he would now look more closely at the experience of some of the overseas venues in the hope of finding a way forward for the Dunfermline initiative.

“Clearly, there is a great deal to do if this idea was ever to get off the ground,” he said, “and part of our work will involve tapping into the experience of other venues. We need all the help we can get … even if it comes from the other side of the world.”

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Following extensive research, North Queensferry marketing consultant Margaret Matthew has concluded that the Carnegie Drive building is “by far the best option” to accommodate a contemporary arts centre in the city.

The study, commissioned by arts networking group Dunfermline Art and Media (DAM) and paid for by a £6500 Big Lottery Fund grant, looked at several sites as a potential home for an exhibition centre and workshops.

But, in her interim report, which has now been presented to DAM, the consultant finds there are a number of reasons why the fire station option would be the best.

The Art Deco building, opened in 1936, will be vacated when the new station being built in Pitreavie Business Park is opened in March. And the very fact that it will be available for alternative use is seen as a key point in favour of DAM’s proposal.

The consultant’s report also argues that the building is in walk-in condition for immediate use, and that the Grade 2-listed “iconic” building would be an “excellent offer” to Dunfermline and Fife, providing status in the contemporary arts.

Its situation in the city centre make it an “apt” arts venue, the interim report contends, and would provide what the consultant calls a “dumbbell” effect through the shopping centre to the city’s main heritage assets.

And she adds, “The building is large enough and has the type of quality to have social, cultural and economic impact. It would cater for artists’ studios, provide a much-needed contemporary arts gallery for the whole of Fife, provide trading opportunities for the creative industries
and be a creative resource. It would pull in visitors to Dunfermline and be a community resource.

“The whole would provide much more than the sum of its parts.”

Though more consultation has still to be carried out, the interim report shows there to be wide spread support for the idea. It states, “Once the group (DAM) had decided to prioritise the fire  station, Fife Council and the Carnegie Trust showed concern, feeling that other options  should be explored further. However, arts, creative and other organisations were very positive about the potential that the fire station offered.”

The study considered six other options for a new arts centre. It contended that the St Andrew’s-Erskine Church building in the city centre would be an “excellent” venue, given its situation and architecture, but concluded that it was in a prohibitively poor state of repair.

The fact that it would need major refurbishment was one of the reasons the Masonic Lodge in New Row was discounted, as was the fact that the building was too small and there was no parking.

The property at 4-8 Abbot Street was also considered but rejected partly because its layout would not lend itself to easy conversion.

Grade C-listed buildings in Bruce Street, on the market for £250,000, had initially been rejected because of the cost. However, as there was a possibility of Fife Council taking on ownership and also of finance being made available for renovation through the Town Centre Regeneration Fund, it was agreed it was an option worth considering. The original building could house up to 10 small studios the land at the back could accommodate an extension for exhibition and workshop space, a cafe and shop. With £750,000 needed, though, it could be considered as an option only if Fife Council “took the initiative”, the report concluded.

Also considered was the City Chambers, which “may be a useful temporary solution”, the report suggested, and the former Co-op site, which was dismissed because of the timescale involved in constructing a brand-new building.

That left fire station as clear favourite but the report makes clear that a cash hurdle has to be overcome. It points out that the building is owned by Fife Council and has a commercial value, and suggests that income from the building’s sale may be needed to help fund the new fire station.

“In any case,” the report adds, “it certainly cannot be assumed that Fife Council can afford to ‘gift’ a building, or offer to charge a peppercorn rent.

“However, if the council were able to take a long-term view, the economic, cultural and social benefits from investing in an iconic arts venue are Fife as well as for Dunfermline are likely to be much more than the short-term aim of additional income.”

The report underlined that argument by looking at how several new arts centre developments elsewhere in the country had provided such benefits.

A host of arts group participated in the study, as did 70 individual artists, 54 of whom indicated that they were looking for studio space.

“This bodes well for the option of the fire station,” said the report, “which would have around 22 small to medium-sized room spaces which could be converted into studios.”

The interim’s reports findings have been welcomed by DAM, whose co-founder, Ian Moir, said he was now looking forward to the completed version.
 “It seems to prove something we have known for a long time: that there is a clear and present need for the provision of contemporary arts facilities in Dunfermline. And it also shows what should be obvious to most people: that the fire station, which is such an important building architecturally, would be a perfect setting for an arts centre of which Dunfermline could be proud.”

The idea of converting the fire station into an arts centre has been warmly welcomed by the city’s MP, Willie Rennie, who sees it as being far more preferable to the building’s possible use as a nightclub or pub.

“There is no question that Dunfermline would benefit greatly from an arts centre,” said Mr Rennie, echoing an argument put by the director of Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre in the Press two weeks ago. Clive Gillman pointed out that the centre he runs had generated hundreds
of jobs and millions of pounds for the city’s economy, and suggested that Dunfermline could similarly benefit if it had an arts centre.

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Voluntary networking group Dunfermline Arts and Media (DAM) has been campaigning hard in recent months for the creation of a community creative art centre in Scotland’s former capital.
For while Edinburgh’s arts may be booming, West Fife’s is suffering from a haemorrhage of talent.

Now, DAM is determined to stem the flow of creativity by establishing studios and an exhibition space in the hope that Dunfermline can become a vibrant artistic hub.

Last year, DAM attracted a £6500 National Lottery ‘Investing in Ideas’ grant to fund a study into the feasibility of setting up an arts centre in Dunfermline. It looked at various buildings but concluded that the town’s iconic fire station, which will be vacated when a new one is opened on the edge of town in March, would be a perfect home for a centre.

“It’s almost as if the building was designed for use as an arts centre,” said DAM co-founder Ian Moir. “The building is almost in move-in condition, its large garage would be ideal as an exhibition area and its 29 rooms would lend themselves perfectly for use as workshops and
studies. It even has two kitchens, toilets on every floor and ample parking space. Everything about it is perfect.”

Built in 1936, the fire station is situated on one of its main thoroughfares in the centre of town.

It’s been described as “hot stuff” for fans of the Art Deco movement, its clean lines and austere frontage betraying its ‘30s origins as a striking example of late modernist architecture.

“It is quite simply too good a building to be turned into a pub or hotel, which is its likely fate if  we don’t act now,” said Ian Moir. “Dunfermline has an embarrassing shortage of facilities for the art scene and I know that converting the fire station would not only play a large part in the
town’s cultural renaissance, it would contribute significantly in economic terms.”

DAM’s dream, in short, is to create a facility which could become Fife’s equivalent of Gateshead’s Baltic Mill, which was converted from a disused flour mill to an arts centre, helping to transform post-industrial Tyneside into a vibrant cultural centre.

The organisation is not alone. A study has shown that since Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) was opened in 1999 it has generated millions of pounds for the Tayside economy. It now attracts around 300,000 visitors a year and its director, Clive Gillman, sees no reason to believe Dunfermline wouldn’t get a similar boost if it had a similar facility.

“I wish this venture well,” he said. “There is no doubt that an arts centre can have a significant impact on a local economy. We at the DCA are all about supporting a sense of cultural ambition in the city and I think there’s a place for that attitude in all our towns and cities.”

Another example being used by DAM is in Scarborough, where the Woodend Creative Workspace is run by a not-for-profit trust that leases the building for a peppercorn rent from the local council. The centre, which provides a base for artists and craftspeople, is a key part of an emerging cultural quarter in the Yorkshire town which is helping to generate commercial activity. It is part of the Scarborough Renaissance project,
representatives of which addressed a public meeting in Dunfermline organised by DAM in January.

The meeting was told that the volunteers behind the fire station plan have now attracted a £4500 grant from Fife Council, which owns the building, for an architectural feasibility study. It will define the physical potential of the building and lay the groundwork for an inspiring design solution for the building’s transformation.
“We’re delighted that Fife Council are helping us advance this initiative,” said Ian Moir. “We’ve still got a long way to go but this latest development lends much credibility to our investigation.

The council has no definite plan of its own for the building’s future use but is represented on a working group set up by DAM to progress its proposals.

DAM’s own study is pragmatic about the financial implications of the proposal.

“It certainly cannot be assumed that Fife Council can afford to ‘gift’ a building, or offer to charge a peppercorn rent,” the study report states. “However, if the council were able to take the long-term view, the economic, cultural and social benefits from investing in an iconic venue for Fife as well as for Dunfermline are likely to be much more than the short-term aim of additional income.”

The report argues that the costs of running an arts centre could be sustainable, and points to similar centres which are made financially viable through generating various income streams.
In Dunfermline’s case, studios and exhibition space could be rented, cultural events staged and sponsorship sought, while a cafe and shop would also bring in cash.

Meanwhile, there’s a growing list of individuals and groups volunteering their support for the initiative.

Among them is Dunfermline resident John Gibson, who runs an arts centre in Leith that’s remarkably similar to the one proposed for the fire station. He owns Coburg House Arts Studios and Gallery, a centre which houses 40 studios accommodating 70 artists. Like the fire station,
Coburg House is a 1930s,listed building. A former grain store, it is quickly being recognised as a key artistic base in the capital. As well as providing studio space for artists and craftworkers it boasts an exhibition space and hosts art and craft classes all of which DAM would like to
see in the fire station.

“I read about the proposal for the fire station and I was amazed at how similar it is to what I’ve done in Edinburgh,” said John Gibson. “I think the fire station idea is a real goer. With a wee bit of vision it could turn out to be a really marvellous place. It’s just the sort of facility Dunfermline needs.”

 Mr Gibson has offered his advice to DAM, as has another Dunfermline resident who feels her skills could be of use to the fire station project.Fiona Logue is business director of the Edinburgh International Science Festival and she has volunteered to help DAM with fundraising.

“I’d be delighted to help in any way I can,” said Fiona, who previously ran a gallery in Glasgow, worked with the Scottish Arts Council and had a career in financial services.

“I have experience of fundraising and managing a small business and might have some skills which I would be happy to volunteer to help the project. It would be fantastic to see this get off the ground. A place the size of Dunfermline should have something like this.”

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Dunfermline Arts Media (DAM) believes the B-listed building, which was opened in 1936, would be an ideal venue for a centre which, it says, would put Dunfermline on the cultural map.
The organisation says artists and art groups throughout the area would benefit from having a central studio and exhibition space, and it believes converting the fire station could bring real economic benefits to the town.

Not that it would need much converting, according to DAM.
“It’s almost as if the building was designed to be an arts centre,” said member Ian Moir.
DAM has commissioned a £6500 study into the creation of an arts centre somewhere in the town but it appears the fire station is seen as the favoured option.

However, what the study will say won’t be made public until it is passed on to DAM later this month.

If the Fife Council-owned fire station is seen as an ideal home for an arts centre DAM would then have to consider how to acquire it.
Doing so would come as a blow to anyone harbouring hopes of converting the building, which was designed in the Art Deco style, into a pub or nightclub ¬- a proposal that’s been hinted at in the past.

“It would be a tragedy if if became a pub,” said Mr Moir. “This building deserves better than that.

“Having a centre for the contemporary arts would really give Dunfermline, and indeed Fife, a big boost. It happens wherever centres like this are created ¬- suddenly Dunfermline would become a focal point in Scotland, and possibly even overseas, for the creative arts.
“That would be brilliant not just for people involved in the arts but for the city as a whole.”

DAM would like a building which can accommodate an exhibition space, studios, offices, a bookshop and a cafe. The group points out that the fire station is in excellent condition and there is ample parking space.

The fire station was designed by James Shearer, a Dunfermline-born architect who also worked on the covered enclosure at East End Park. He was appointed OBE in 1969 and died three years later

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The Carnegie Drive station, a B-listed building completed in 1936, will be redundant when the new station being built at Pitreavie Business Park opens early next year.

And voluntary body Dunfermline Arts and Media (DAM), the organisation behind the Glen Gates Gallery mounted in the city during the summer months, sees the Art Deco building as an ideal home for studios and exhibitions.

With a £6500 grant from the Big Lottery Fund, DAM has commissioned a study into the creation of an arts centre somewhere in the city. But it is understood that some buildings the marketing consultant has looked at have been dismissed as being unsuitable or too costly for conversion, and that the fire station is seen as the favoured option.

The consultant’s report is likely to be finished by the middle of the month and if the fire station emerges as the top choice, DAM faces the daunting prospect of trying to acquire it.

The landmark building, owned by Fife Council, occupies a key site in the centre of the city and there has been talk of it being eyed as a possible pub or nightclub.

However, DAM believe the general public ¬- and perhaps the police ¬- would be appalled at such a prospect, and think converting the station into an arts centre would give the city a cultural and economic shot in the arm.

“Having a centre for the contemporary arts would really give Dunfermline, and indeed Fife, a big boost,” said DAM co-founder Ian Moir. “It happens wherever centres like this are created ¬- suddenly Dunfermline would become a focal point in Scotland, and possibly even overseas,
for the creative arts. That would be brilliant not just for people involved in the arts but for the city as a whole.”

DAM has been looking around for a suitable venue for a contemporary art centre for some time but is now focused on the fire station as it believes it could, with minimum work, easily accommodate an exhibition space, studios, offices, a bookshop and a cafe. The group points
out that the building is in excellent condition, there’s little likelihood of there being any fire regulation problems, and there is ample parking space.

“It’s almost as if the building was designed to be an arts centre,” said Mr Moir.

The station’s conversion into an arts centre would follow a long line of prestigious projects in which utilitarian buildings have been turned into cultural hubs. A former flour mill in Gateshead has become Baltic Mills, now a world renowned centre for contemporary arts, which has helped to revitalise that part of  Tyneside. And the Tate Modern, created in 2000 in what was Bankside Power Station in London, has become one of the UK’s top tourist attractions, generating 4000 jobs and £100 million a year for the capital’s economy.

With or without an arts centre, Carnegie Drive is set for a radical transformation with Tesco planning to build a new store on the site of the former Thomson’s World of Furniture building as soon as the fire station is vacated early next year.

DAM is not the only potential occupant of the fire station to have emerged in recent times. Developers last year applied for permission to turn it into a pub/nightclub as part of a £20 million proposal which would have stymied Tesco’s plans.

The Town Centre Regeneration Company also proposed building a supermarket, car park and offices on land east of the fire station and wanted to pull down buildings on the south side of Carnegie Drive and replace them with shops. However, the company, made up of a mysterious group of businessmen who sought anonymity, didn’t own all the buildings involved and the whole idea was quietly dropped.

There have been mutterings of discontent at the prospect of the fire station becoming a pub or club. Iain McGregor, a Fife Council development manager, said last year there had been “an issue” about the number of licensed premises in the city.

He said at the time that it would be “great” if someone was to buy the station for office use.

But, whatever happens, he assured, “It’s a listed building and our position is it will be retained and given its place in the town.”

Dunfermline Fire Station, which has been described as being “hot stuff” for enthusiasts of the Art Deco movement, was designed by James Shearer, a Dunfermline-born architect who also worked on the covered enclosure at East End Park. He was appointed OBE in 1969 and died
three years later.

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