OVER the past 30 years, Sir Ian Wood has transformed his family's fishing business into a giant of the North Sea oil industry, making him the second-richest man in Scotland in the process.
As his personal fortune has grown to an estimated £890 million, the head of the Aberdeen-based Wood Group has seen Union Street – once the bustling centre of the city – sadly fade from its glory days as one of the busiest shopping centres in the cou
ntry.
But yesterday, in an act of astonishing altruism, and with echoes of the great philanthropists of the Victorian era, Sir Ian pledged £50 million of his fortune to create a new "beating heart" of the Granite City.
His bold vision is to create a new city-centre square above the valley containing Union Terrace Gardens, the Denburn dual carriageway and the main Aberdeen-Inverness rail line.
Sir Ian said his aim was to transform the five-acre site into a square that would be a combination of a grand Italian piazza and a miniature version of New York's Central Park.
He said: "The goal is to give Aberdeen a vibrant new heart to reflect both the success of the region and its position as a leading northern European city.
"This development is of significant regional, national and international importance and will be a clear statement of Scotland's ambition in the energy industry worldwide.
"And it will be very important in ensuring Aberdeen and Scotland secure our place as one of the major energy capitals of the eastern hemisphere, as North Sea activity winds down in ten or 20 years' time."
Sir Ian's plan for a new civic square is the fourth scheme to be suggested for the site.
The tycoon, who was born and bred in the city, said the idea of raising Union Terrace Gardens to become a street-level, city-centre square had first been mooted in the late 1980s.
He said: "From a personal perspective, I consider the failure of Grampian Enterprise to achieve the backing and financial funds to achieve this in the early Nineties to be my biggest failure as its first chairman, and that has always bothered me.
"Added to this is my conviction that the North Sea oil era, certainly the most economically rewarding in our city's history, should make its mark and contribute to some major transformational change in our city's core fabric."
Sir Ian also stressed that he was expecting "significant" contributions to be made by both the public and private sectors, including North Sea oil companies based in the city.
Alex Salmond, the First Minister, said it was a "concept of huge ambition – a plan that would create new heart for this great city".
He went on: "Aberdeen is a world-class energy centre, perhaps second only to Houston as a centre of energy expertise. It is vital the city has a heart and centre of the calibre which fits that international status. I think it is even more necessary than it normally is, in tough economic times, to have visions that transcend the current environment."
He said of Sir Ian's £50 million offer: "It stands in the best possible examples of the tradition of Scottish philanthropy. It is an extraordinary commitment."
But there was a blunt warning that plans already approved to allow the Peacock Visual Arts to build a centre in Union Terrace Garden could be destroyed by Sir Ian's scheme. Sir Ian is insisting that the arts centre should be relocated and incorporated within the civic square and built to a different design.
Lindsay Gordon, the art gallery director, said: "It really puts the whole project in jeopardy."
A feasibility study into the city square is expected to take at least four months, and a final decision on the project will not be made until next December.
How our philanthropists give their cash away• SIR TOM HUNTER: The property tycoon and richest man in Scotland said last year he would give his £1 billion fortune to charity. Due to the economic downturn, he now has £750 million. He plans on giving it to his charity, the Hunter Foundation, which invests in educational projects in the developing world.
• JK ROWLING: The Harry Potter author founded the Children's High Level Group, giving millions to help children in eastern Europe. She has also donated money to the Volant Charitable Trust, multiple sclerosis charities, Edinburgh University and Médecins Sans Frontières.
• ANN GLOAG: Stagecoach's co-founder supports the health care charity Mercy Ships, and in May she launched the Freedom from Fistula Foundation, aimed at helping pregnant women in Africa.
• CAROL HOGEL: Raised in Chicago, she came to Edinburgh 30 years ago and founded the Dunard Fund, which has donated more than £20 million to Scottish arts projects in the past two decades.
• SIR TOM FARMER: The Kwik-Fit founder has been a major donor to the National Galleries of Scotland.
