Ambitious 'world class' St Kilda Centre scaled back

An ambitious project to build an £5.5m world-class attraction in the Outer Hebrides to tell the story of St Kilda and its people has been scaled back.

The original concept design for the St Kilda Centre at Uig, Isle of Lewis. It was designed by Skye-based architects Dualchas and Norwegian architect Reiulf Ramstad. PIC: Contributed.

For around 10 years, the community of Uig in the west of Lewis has been working to create the centre on the site of an old radar station on a spectacular clifftop site at Mangersta.

The Norwegian Reiulf Ramstad Architects and Scottish architects Dualchas collaborated on a bold concept design for the attraction, with viewing platforms and technology to bring visitors closer to St Kilda, which sits around 40 miles away from Lewis.

Dundee V&A has been cited as an inspiration for the scheme given the powerful draw the architecture has had on funding, investment and visitors numbers.

The proposed clifftop location for the centre at Magersta, Uig, Isle of Lewis. PIC: Contributed.

The original cost was around £8m.

Iain Buchanan, chairman of Ionad Hiort, the community-led company set up to build the centre, said: "We are working very closely with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the consensus was that if we took a phased approach, it might be easier to attract funding.

"It would help us get off the ground, get us started, rather than doing the whole project in one go.

Uig man Iain Buchanan, chair of the Ionad Hiort community-led company, which is working to build the centre at Uig. PIC: Contributed.

"We are also in a very challenging situation given public funding at the moment. It is a very difficult time."

Mr Buchanan, who was raised in Uig, said that an 'island deal', which is proposed by the UK and Scottish governments to drive growth and stimulate the economies in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles, had yet to be agreed.

A combined bid of £300m has been put forward by the local authorities, with it hoped the St Kilda Centre could apply for some of the funding.

People of St Kilda photographed in the 1920s by George Washington Wilson. The island was evacuated of its last permanent resident in 1930 when conditions became unsustainable. PIC: Contributed.

National Lottery also encouraged Ionad Hiort to go for a smaller scheme in the first instance.

The first phase of the centre is due to include a single building and viewing platform fixed to the cliffside.

Western Isles Council first launched a competition to build a St Kilda centre in 2009 with hopes it would reflect the culture and heritage of the island which was evacuated of its last permanent population in 1930.

Today, MOD staff and conservationists live there on a temporary basis, with the island receiving around 5,000 visitors every year.

With access to the St Kilda archipelago often hampered by weather, it was thought preferable to have the centre on one one of the Outer Hebrides islands, from where St Kilda can be seen.

In the case of Ionad Hiort, technology was proposed to bring real-time footage of St Kilda bird life, sea life, lanscape and weatheer, closer.

Ionad Hiort on Lewis won the original design competition but smaller St Kilda centres are still being pursued in North Uist and Harris.

The three will form part of a St Kilda Trail which due to bring together various islands in the Outer Hebrides, from Mingulay in the south to North Rona in the north, with each reflecting various elements of the St Kilda story.

Producer Calum Angus Mackay, of Mast-Ard Studio, who directed the programme Oir an Dòchais – Edge Of Hope for BBC ALBA, said that the new documentary showed the determination of Uig people to create the St Kilda centre.

He said the "hugely ambitious" project would bring great opportunities to remote villages that have struggled with depopulation and changing demographics.

He added: “The documentary follows the creative everyday challenges that one community faces, at a time when public funding does not always favour those living on the very edge of Europe.

“The determination shown by the people of Uig, in trying to create an iconic landmark, is a real human story worth following.”

Ionad Hiort – Oir an Dòchais /St Kilda Centre – Edge of Hope, will air on BBC ALBA on Tuesday, March 3 at 8pm.