In passing up and down Union Street, the question frequently occurs to me -‘when are those gardens to be opened to the public?’
Anything more painful to look at than its cement concrete ramps and stairs is almost impossible to conceive…
It has been said of old that ‘a thing of beauty is a joy forever’. That saying, however, has no significance if reference he [Keats] had to our Union Terrace Gardens…
You could easily be forgiven for believing these words from correspondents in our letters pages have come in the months since April.
Just before May’s local elections, Aberdeen City Council was forced to abandon plans for a “soft opening” of Union Terrace Gardens (UTG). The blow came on the morning the gates were expected to be softly flung open.
But it was not until December 22 that the gates were opened. We counted up to the pre-Christmas opening with our UTG advent calendar.
Frustration now and 143 years ago
It has been a year of frustration for onlookers. But the above-vexed words of the introduction show that is nothing new.
They come from the postbag of The Aberdeen Journal – which would later become The P&J – in July 1879.
Readers appeared equally exasperated at the duration and cost of work to cultivate UTG out of the wooded bank between Union Terrace and the railway line.
Here and now, our Nu-nion Terrace Gardens were due for completion last summer. With Covid and global unrest, there have been many false summits along the way.
So too, it appears, in the formative years of the Victorian Aberdeen city centre.
More than a year before the inaugural opening of Union Terrace Gardens, The Aberdeen Journal reported: “The work, which was commenced in November last, is now approaching completion.
“It is expected that the gardens will be opened to the pleasure-seeking public just when outdoor recreation will be most sought after, and consequently at a time when their value will be appreciated.”
In that report, dated April 25 1878, we estimated opening “in two months”.
It was not until August 11 1879 that access would be granted.
Here is what has been achieved more quickly globally – including the construction of one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.
Impatience for UTG opening then and now
In the July 1879 letters pages of The Aberdeen Journal, Alpha – who wrote our introduction – asked: “When are those gardens to be opened to the public?
“It is but proper that the public should know the cause of the delay in opening the gardens. The Union Terrace Gardens are doubtless very pretty, and ‘distance lends enchantment to the view’.
“But I am inclined to think that on a closer acquaintance with the gardens it will be found that the steep ‘braes’ which will have to be encountered before taking a general perambulate of the place will be a means of making the gardens less popular than they might otherwise have been.
“… However, it is to be hoped that our somewhat dilatory councillors will see their way to the opening of the gardens before long.”
‘Open Union Terrace Gardens? Never, sir!’
Alpha’s letter prompted an emphatic response from Civil Engineer – who appeared a regular contributor to our paper.
They wrote: “‘When are these gardens to be opened to the public?’ indignantly asks your inquiring correspondent, Alpha.
“Never, sir! Never, never!
“The public does not see its way to open a new ward in the infirmary at the same time, and institute an ambulance corps…
“Then, there is the ratepayer, who may possibly think he has paid quite enough already for nonsense… Open?” he concluded. “Never!”
The fury in The Aberdeen Journal about the “near Alpine steep” paths was taken on board. Within a fortnight of opening, councillors had voted to have them removed.
However, Alpha’s assertion that the public might have benefitted more from spending the UTG cash on the formation of a city band remains open to challenge…
‘Bury the last vestige’ of Union Terrace Gardens and start anew after 1879 opening
As the 2022 work has dragged on, now limping towards a possible pre-Christmas opening, anger has grown.
In June, correspondent RD told The Evening Express: “When I pass the rebuild at Union Terrace Gardens, I get angrier every time I look at it.”
Watching the Victorian construction in April 1879, our penman Civil Engineer told Aberdeen Journal readers it was “money infinitely worse than wasted”.
They wrote: “To a skilled observer the display [in Union Terrace Gardens] made is, literally speaking, truly awful; in the light of our boasted knowledge, the very least to be said is that it is most humiliating.
“What has to be done (the doing, or undoing, being mere matter of necessity) is to root the whole thing up bodily, and make beginning ‘de noro’; a hole being dug big enough to bury the last vestige of the cement, and the grounds reconstructed on the lines of common sense, good taste and utility.”
While Twitter’s 280-character limit stopped Paul Allen from being quite as impressive in his prose, the feeling seems about the same.
Those footpaths look like an accident waiting to happen, especially for elderly folk or those with prams, when the weather is cold and frosty. ❄️
— 🇬🇧🏴 (@PaulAllen2022) December 9, 2022
George R Davidson, of Braemar Place, Aberdeen, hit out this July too.
He wrote: “On my way to M&S I walked along Union Terrace to view the lack of progress in the gardens and cannot imagine it ever being finished this year.
“I noticed at either end what looked like a garden recycle point. On inquiring I was told it was landscaping work by the contractor. It is an absolute disgrace.”
‘Dear me!’: What’s that in old money?
Since the current refurbishment plans of Union Terrace Gardens emerged, prices have gone up and up.
First costed at £17 million, the latest estimate is £30 million. The final jump from £28.3m has been blamed on supply issues caused by the war in Ukraine.
In 1879, the cost of the conversion of the wooded brae to the much-loved Victorian garden in the heart of Aberdeen cost £4,333, 17 shillings and seven pence.
Another £28 and four shillings was added for the removal of the steepest path up the brae.
In today’s money, that comes to a grand total of £429,830, according to the Bank of England.
Or, in the other direction, the scope of the current work would be worth £304,445 if it were carried out in 1879.
The first iteration of Union Terrace Gardens appears value for money.
But the Evening Express of June 17 1879 reveals contemporaries were less convinced.
Probing the cost of building Aberdeen’s pleasure grounds, confirmation of the price was met with alarm. Councillor Duffus said: “Four thousand three hundred and thirty-three pounds! Dear me!”
Another, Councillor Tennant, described the city’s blossoming gardens and parks as a “vortex, swallowing up thousands of pounds”.
Such was the concern, they debated freezing further spending. That would have hit the development of Victoria Park and Bon Accord Terrace Gardens too.
‘Astounding’ Union Terrace Gardens and its multi-million-pound price tag ahead of opening
Similarly, dissatisfaction remains in our present-day postbag.
In May, Dr Michael Taylor, of Newlands Crescent, Aberdeen, wrote: “Someone said that ‘they’ have spent almost £28 million [before the extra £1.5 million spend was revealed] on Union Terrace Gardens to date.
“There was a recent opening postponed so I expected an impressive result. I am astounded by the current state of the gardens.
“How much more will it cost to fix the mess, who has ultimate responsibility for this project and what safeguards are in place to audit the politicians and contractors responsible for the public funds utilised?
“Surely Aberdonians should demand more accountability.”
Union Terrace Gardens was quietly reopened on Thursday night.
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