A “white elephant” tourist attraction that has swallowed £2.5million in council cash subsidies since it was opened 14 years ago is to close.
All four full-time staff members at the Archaeolink prehistory park in Aberdeenshire have been told they will lose their jobs on March 31 – the day before the time-tunnel centre was due to launch a new season.
Employees at the Oyne centre, near Insch – which cost £4million when it was built in the mid-90s – would not comment yesterday, and referred all inquiries to Aberdeenshire Council which has, over the past five years, been providing an annual £135,000 to keep the site open.
A council spokesman confirmed the local authority’s visitor attractions sub-committee had agreed to withdraw all funding for Archaeolink following a budget review last year.
He added: “Funding for the four staff positions will end on March 31, and members of staff affected have been served notice.
“Unfortunately visitor numbers have been steadily declining and during the 2009-10 period stood at just over 10,500.
“This meant a subsidy of more than £13 per visitor.”
The council spokesman said that attracting more people to the facility would have required significant investment to upgrade the facilities and renew equipment at the prehistory park.
The hillside attraction features a range of recreated Iron and Bronze Age buildings overlooking a modernistic display and restaurant building sunk into the grassy slope. Given the current financial climate it would be extremely difficult to find funding.
Yesterday, the Archaeolink website carried the announcement: “Archaeolink is now closed for the season. Because of the withdrawal of our funding it is not known if the centre will reopen.”
Local critics at Oyne labelled the prehistory park a waste of money from the moment it was opened in June, 1997, by television Time Team star Tony Robinson.
Within 10 years the attraction that was flagged-up as a boon to the local economy and rural employment had chalked up £1.6million in taxpayers’ money rather than the 100,000 visitors a year suggested.
Last night locals and councillors questioned the rural location chosen for the prehistory park by the former Gordon District Council, and even the concept behind it. One resident said: “No-one is surprised it has closed, but people are asking why it wasn’t shut long ago.
“It was labelled a white elephant but it’s been a black hole that councillors have continued to fill with our money, year after year.”
The former district council created Archaeolink with the help of grant aid of £2.5million that would have had to be repaid if the attraction had closed within 10 years.
Successive council subsidies of five and six-figures were paid out as the prehistory park was kept open.
“It was the cheaper option at the time. The fact is Archaeolink was just put in the wrong place,” said councillor John Loveday, who with Aberdeenshire Council leader Anne Robertson, have been acting as trustees.
Separate from their roles as councillors, they have run Archaeolink for the past five years, after taking over from a team of trustees.
“When we took over the job of getting it on track, Archaeolink was falling apart, had no business plan and was losing money hand over fist.
“We have increased visitor numbers and managed to cut costs. But we were not even allowed to put a sign up on the A96 main tourist route, and threatened with prosecution when we even put up signposts advertising events over the season. It was crazy,” said Mr Loveday.
The Mid-Formartine councillor said Aberdeenshire Council owned the land, and the trust the site contents.
Asked about the future of the property, he added: “The invitation is out there for anyone, including the community, to come up with ideas and investment.
“It would have to be run as an educational-based attraction and would require substantial investment to make it work. Whether that is feasible, particularly given the economic situation, is open to question.”
If there are no takers for the centre with the troubled financial past, it is understood the site and buildings will revert to council ownership.
West Garioch councillor Sheena Lonchay, who lives in nearby Insch, said she was disappointed the visitor centre had not succeeded: “I am not surprised. In hindsight the original business plan for Archaeolink was very optimistic.
“It was never going to attract visitors on a level with attractions such as Crathes Castle. If it had been built beside the main A96 Aberdeen-Inverness road it might just have had a chance.”
Last night First Minister Alex Salmond, who is also Gordon MSP, said: “Archaeolink has been a fantastic learning resource used by many families and schools in Gordon, and I am saddened to hear of its closure.
“The activities provided captured the imaginations of children looking to experience life in former ages.
“I would like to thank all staff, past and present, for their service and would encourage any employee affected to contact my constituency office, where I will be more than happy to offer assistance in any way I can.”