Hearts submit plans for 'Maroon Mile' interpretation panels in Gorgie to mark the club's 150th anniversary

The Maroon Mile is a community-led heritage project that focuses on the social, economic and sporting history of Gorgie and Dalry. It includes a heritage trail, community workshops and an oral history project.

The project is funded by £207,339 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and is a collaboration between The Foundation of Hearts and Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

Artist's impressions of the planned Maroon Mile panels at 52 Gorgie Road and Dalry Cemetery (inset). | City of Edinburgh Council

The heritage trail from Haymarket to Tynecastle Park will explain the history of the Gorgie and Dalry area and will consist of nine interpretation panels in total. The current applications submitted to the council are for four panels to be placed at Dalry Cemetery, the former ‘New Tivoli’ Cinema at Gorgie Road and North Merchiston Cemetery.

In the planning documents submitted on November 8, Hearts and the Foundation of Hearts said: “The community has been central to the creation and design of the trail.

“Several public consultations have been held and the project team has been working with various community groups, schools, and local businesses to not only identify the route but also capture intangible histories about the local area.

“In the last six months the project team has held outreach workshops with Garvald Workshops, Good Morning Gorgie, Tynecastle High School, Gorgie and Dalry Community Forum, and Gorgie Farm.”

The proposed Maroon Mile panels at the gates of North Merchiston Cemetery at Slateford Road. | City of Edinburgh Council

The Dalry cemetery panel will highlight some of the notable people buried there. This includes sculptors, surgeons, medical professionals, artists, writers and Heart of Midlothian staff. It will be mounted on the masonry wall at the side of the entrance gates. The ‘Dalry Cemetery’ sign will be relocated to accommodate.

While, the Gorgie Road panel will discuss the history of entertainment in Gorgie and Dalry and the four cinemas which were situated along the Maroon Mile. It is proposed to mount the panel on the existing signboards next to the main entrance of the building formerly known as New Tivoli Picture House and most recently occupied by Destiny Church.

Two panels will be placed on the North Merchiston Cemetery gates, with the first set to provide a history of the cemetery and highlight the notable people buried there including players and staff associated with Hearts.

A concept image of a proposed Maroon Mile panel, indicative only, with text and photos still to be clarified for each of the proposed panels to be sited in Gorgie and Dalry. | City of Edinburgh Council

The second panel on the North Merchiston Cemetery gates will provide an overview of the biodiversity and wildlife of this important inner city green space.

Hearts' history is strongly ingrained in the area's built environment, most notably in the War Memorial at Haymarket which is dedicated to the citizens of Edinburgh and to the battalions who served. This roll of honour includes those Hearts’ players who famously enlisted for McCrae’s Battalion.

A critical part of this project will be to begin to restore the war memorial and to use it as the starting point of the Maroon Mile, which will end at the Hearts’ Museum, where new multimedia equipment will be deployed to share a rich array of assets highlighting the history and heritage of the club and the area since 1874.