The trust behind the £11 million Star of Caledonia landmark at Gretna Green are hopeful that its construction could start ,close to the M74, before next winter and open to visitors by the spring of 2027.
With an original price tag of £4.8 million more than 20 years ago, The Star was planned as a gateway to Scotland on a piece of the farmland close to the border.
It obtained original planning permission from Dumfries and Galloway Council but has been stymied by a lack of cash.
However, a new site less than a mile north in a field off the B7076 – adjacent to the M74 – across from the The Smiths Hotel has been put forward instead for Dumfries and Galloway Council to consider with funding pledges secured from wind farm operator Community Windpower, the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal and South of Scotland Enterprise.
The illuminated star – designed by Cecil Balmond as a tribute to the discovery of electromagnetism by one of Scotland’s most eminent scientists who hails from the region, James Clark Maxwell – would be sited on a huge land art mound designed by the late Charles Jencks, which the public can walk around, and an amphitheatre.
The Star of Caledonia Trust presented their plans at a public consultation at the Richard Greenhowe Centre in Gretna.
At 33-metre-tall, the structure would be clearly visible from the motorway and taller than Gateshead’s Angel Of The North, but its 553 rods and 106 attached lights would have a “glow”.
In a document, the trust said the funding is “a mixture of public and private funding”.
It said: “The biggest sum is coming from CWP Energy. Out of the total cost, roughly 70 per cent is coming from private funders, not public money.
“We hope to draw new visitors to the star, which we with then encourage to visit Dumfries and Galloway, Cumbria and the Borders. And we hope to get around 200,000 visitors in our first year.”
They also hope to have, in the future, a visitor centre that will be linked to the sculpture by a walking route and will showcase the star and act as a gateway to promote tourist trails – but that will be built at a later date.