ANDREW BATCHELOR: The Caird Hall Is Still A Class Act For Dundee 100 Years On

This article originally featured in the Evening Telegraph

The Caird Hall officially turns 100 today (Photo: Mary Rodgers via Geograph)

This week marks the Caird Hall’s 100th anniversary.

Throughout the past cen­tury it has played an import­ant role for the gen­er­a­tions of Dun­do­ni­ans who have walked through its doors, either when watch­ing con­certs or per­formers, attend­ing award shows or uni­versity and col­lege gradu­ation.

Offi­cially open­ing on Octo­ber 26 1923, the Caird Hall changed Dun­dee’s image and has fostered a sense of com­munity in the city. And 100 years on, it still con­tin­ues to dazzle those who visit con­certs, theatre shows and much more.

I have my own fond memor­ies of the Caird Hall. I remem­ber stand­ing in front of it when

I was just 12 years of age, talk­ing about Dun­dee’s UK City of Cul­ture bid to a crowd of hun­dreds.

I would later go up on stage twice to be given two awards in rela­tion to my work pro­mot­ing Dun­dee and it was an hon­our to stand on a stage filled with so much his­tory.

More recently, the Caird Hall played a vital role dur­ing the height of Covid when it became a vac­cin­a­tion centre, help­ing thou­sands of Dun­do­ni­ans get the Covid jag.

I always love hear­ing the stor­ies from people of their exper­i­ence at the Caird Hall, be it see­ing fam­ous artists such as The Beatles, Queen, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra and Elton John per­form, or walk­ing up on stage receiv­ing their dip­lo­mas and degrees at uni­versity or col­lege gradu­ations.

I always love hear­ing the stor­ies from people of their exper­i­ence at the Caird Hall, be it see­ing fam­ous artists such as The Beatles, Queen, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra and Elton John per­form, or walk­ing up on stage receiv­ing their dip­lo­mas and degrees at uni­versity or col­lege gradu­ations.

It’s heart­warm­ing see­ing many have a pos­it­ive exper­i­ence when they have vis­ited the Caird Hall for many dif­fer­ent things – and that is what I believe makes it so spe­cial to Dun­dee.

So what does the next 100 years hold for the Caird Hall?

Well, look­ing at Dun­dee now, we are on the cusp of get­ting not just one but two new arenas which would eclipse the Caird Hall in capa­city num­bers if both were given the green light.

Now it’s not doom and gloom at all because in the future if Dun­dee was given a new arena, such as the one pro­posed in the Neth­er­gate, this bodes an excit­ing oppor­tun­ity for the Caird Hall to rein­vent itself as a hub for clas­sical arts and cul­ture her­it­age in Scot­land.

Opera, clas­sical theatre shows, bal­let and fest­ivals should be what the venue pri­or­it­ises, all of which are still very much pop­u­lar. And of course it would still play host to many other shows as well and it should con­tinue to be the host venue of gradu­ation cere­mon­ies of our edu­ca­tional insti­tu­tions.

I think it def­in­itely has an excit­ing future and I hope Dun­do­ni­ans will con­tinue to show their love for a place which has changed our city pos­it­ively.

Here’s to the next 100 years and bey­ond for our fab­ulous Caird Hall