Regular readers of the Leith Gazette will know about our campaign to set up a Museum in Leith. Since we launched the campaign two years ago, thousands of local people – and others – have given their backing to this campaign.

I’m glad to say that our campaign is getting somewhere! Over the last few months, a group of experts – architects, engineers, museum professionals, designers and others – have been giving their time, free of charge, to help draw up detailed proposals for such a museum, which we hope will be housed in Leith’s historic Custom House which is currently used for storage by National Museums of Scotland.

The group has now produced detailed and exciting proposals which were launched recently at a meeting in Leith. Our idea is for a building which is ‘more than a museum’. History would be at the heart of the building, but the aim would also be to set up a centre which would be a centre for a wide range of other activities as well, all adding to the excitement and sense of life which could make the building special. It would be part museum, part exhibition gallery, part education and community centre, which although having a historical focus would also include material and organise educational and outreach activities that demonstrate the current international links of Leith and Edinburgh, setting today’s community in its historical context.

Our group believes that Custom House would be an ideal building for such a museum and centre. The main building could provide both permanent exhibition space and also galleries for temporary exhibitions, which could also be used for functions and other events. The space by the side of the Water of Leith could provide an attractive location for a café and shop, helping to bring in income to meet the running costs of the building. At the back of the main building, the two storey low building known as the ‘Cruiser Store’ could provide spaces for offices and workspaces, with a maritime theme, adding to the life and atmosphere of the building. And in between the main Custom House building and the ‘Cruiser Store’ at the back, there is a courtyard which could also be used as an attractive venue – for exhibits, displays, and stalls.

We will shortly be displaying our proposals at Leith Library, and we’ll also have a stall at the Leith Festival Gala Day. In the meantime, if you would like more details, you can get them from the campaigns section of this website by clicking here.

We’ve still a long way to go in our campaign, but we are getting there! We hope to be able to persuade both the City Council and the National Museums of Scotland to back our proposals. The next step will be to carry out a detailed technical study of the building, and draw up a full ‘business case’ to show how we can make the sums add up to make the museum possible. It’s a big project – we estimate it may cost £10 million pounds to convert and set the building up as a museum and centre with the ambitious plans we have. But it’s an investment which would be there for the long-term future as well, and compares favourably with many similar historical projects – in Edinburgh and elsewhere, on which many tens of millions of pounds have been spent.

We are ambitious in what we want for Leith – and Leith deserves it!