A walking trail for the Printfield 10 project which would promote the childhood roots of the footballing great Denis Law is to be given help to find grant funding along with £20,000 from the Common Good Fund for the walking trail, a committee agreed today.
The members of the city growth and resources committee unanimously agreed to the move to support the Denis Law Legacy Trust’s wish to continue developing the project and the Trust should manage and deliver it via a contracted third party.
The Denis Law Legacy Trust has developed the Printfield 10 Project with the aim of motivating, inspiring, and engaging the Printfield community, whilst also celebrating Denis Law who is the only Scottish footballer to win the Ballon D’or who grew up in the Printfield area.
The walking trail would feature images of Denis Law linked to key moments of his career and football skills challenges for participants to complete.
Aberdeen City Council city growth and resources convener Councillor Ryan Houghton said: “We note the creativity and work that has gone into developing the Printfield 10 project proposals and thank everyone who has been involved. We recognise the efforts made so far and we’re delighted that £20,000 is to be given from the Common Good Fund towards the walking trail.
“We wish the Denis Law Legacy Trust well in sourcing grant funding for the walking trail and it is good it was unanimously agreed today council officers should help them with that.
“Denis Law is an important footballing figure for Aberdeen and a walking trail in his home area of Printfield would be a fine way to celebrate his achievements and encourage the footballing heroes of the future.”
A spokesperson from the Denis Law Legacy Trust said: "We're grateful to Aberdeen City Council for agreeing to support the Printfield 10 project and look forward to working with them and other partners to create a trail which will celebrate Denis Law's achievements while also inspiring the next generation of young people in Aberdeen."
A report to committee said a cost/benefit analysis, fundraising plan and full budget should be produced by the partners developing the full Printfield 10 project alongside other research showing a community need for this work.
The report said three proposed murals which were part of the project are not feasible due to the costs and challenges associated with them. The indicative cost is £105,000 for the delivery of the murals but this did not include any costs associated with the mural being produced at the proposed site including preparation work, ongoing maintenance, consultation, building surveys, image licensing, and other incidentals.
Two of the murals would be on council multi storey buildings however a full consultation with residents would be recommended prior to commencing work and this is estimated to take up to six months to complete and at a cost of approximately £4,000. A building survey of the two tower blocks would also be required costing about £4,000.
There would also be additional costs due to site preparation such as cleaning and painting the proposed wall on each tower block of up to £50,000 per wall. When the murals fade, repainting them would cost about £100,000 and painting over them is also estimated to cost about £100,000.
The report to committee added due to the scale of the proposal and level of resources required to manage and deliver the project at a time when resources are committed to the city’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, there is no additional capacity within council services to take the project forward at this time.
The report to committee said it should also be noted that the legacy of Denis Law is already well represented and celebrated within Aberdeen through the Freedom of the City, two statues and one of which officers are working with the Denis Law Legacy Trust to display prominently in the city centre, an all-weather football pitch named after him, as well as delivering the successful Streetsport initiative with Robert Gordon University.