On Saturday, when Heart of Midlothian face Ross County in the Scottish Premiership, fans walking along Gorgie Road will be greeted with a new vista when they take a glance down Tynecastle Terrace.

Over the past two weeks,  Thomas Payne, the man behind the artwork within the Main Stand that has proven popular with fans, and his team have worked to recreate the iconic signage that stood on the Gorgie Road end for 66 years until the mid-90s and the redevelopment of Tynecastle Park.

It will act as the end point of the Maroon Mile project, which runs from the recently renovated Haymarket Memorial to the Hearts Museum, and has been one of the big-ticket items of the club's 150th anniversary celebrations. It has been brought to reality via the Foundation of Hearts and funding the organisation was granted from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

When the plan for the sign was announced earlier this month having been granted planning permission, it naturally provoked opinion and prompted much debate amongst fans. Some of those voiced concern over it being painted on as opposed to erected as its own sign.

The original plan was to recreate the sign on the Gorgie Stand gates. However, structurally it wasn't possible. Discussions were had, including with the club's stadium manager Derek Ferrier, and the most feasible solution was to paint it onto the stand.

"I think early on, you know the disappearance of that sign, no one knowing what happened to it, has been a hot topic for three decades now," Ann Park, director of community and partnerships at the club, told Hearts Standard. 

"Talking to Garry Halliday [one of the founding directors of Foundation of Hearts], how could we bring that back?

"We’ve looked at it for years. We knew before we embarked on getting this done that it would be very difficult to actually put the sign back in place. It was built onto the stand and set on a massive concrete tunnel. It was really a question of how could we do it.

"The collective thought of construction engineers and Thomas has done a lot of great work around the stadium came up with that. It would be the nod to the sign so you would get that vista when you look down Tynecastle Terrace and it would mark the end of the maroon mile as well."

Payne, who applied the science of painting onto a corrugated surface, has worked to a tight timescale around the football calendar on specialised scaffolding built above the entrance to the museum. 

With the start and finish of the Maroon Mile completed, plans are being formulated for what will be put in place on the mile itself. The project, when completed, will act as a legacy beyond the club's sesquicentennial.

"It is telling the story of the heritage and history of the club which is so important in this 150th year," Lianne Parry, head of the heritage department at the club, told Hearts Standard. 

"It’s also reaching out to the community as well and the club and community sit hand in hand. Having the funding to explore and share that heritage is just so important for us.

"Part of the lottery’s remit is we need to go out into the public, to the supporters to the local community to get their views on the project. Maroon Mile Project Lead [Dr] Karen Mailley has been doing a lot of outreach to community groups, fan groups and public forums.

"We’re building up a picture of what goes in between. That will be largely driven by some of the community groups we are working with and the fans."

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The plans will see the club's history being brought into the 21st century. 

Between 10 and 12 different points along the mile have been identified for interpretation boards with stories of the local community and how they tie in with the club. They will likely have QR codes and BSL signs for each stop. While at the museum there is funding for touch screens.

"It means we can put a lot more information in," Parry explained. "The museum is quite a small space to put all of our history in one place. The touch screen will enable fans to search through a lot more information."

The Gorgie End sign, the Haymarket memorial and the Maroon Mile are a significant part of the club's 150th celebrations. Yet, the anniversary has allowed the club to touch base with its history, hosting a variety of events at Tynecastle Park. From legend events in the Gorgie Suite to 'Museum Nights', the latest event will celebrate the release of 'From Medals to Toffee Tins: A History of Hearts in 150 Memorabilia Objects' by the memorabilia collector, author, programme contributor and FOH board member Gary Cowen.

(Image: HMFC)

It has also been an opportunity to modernise the club's history and ensure it is better protected for future generations.

Young people, aged between eight and 18, who attend workshops and sessions in the club's innovation centre at Tynecastle Park have mined data that has been uncovered and digitised minute books going back to 1874.

Along the way, they discovered that John Walker was the first professional black in Scotland having seen his wage book from his time at the club.

Meanwhile, Lauren Beatty has been running a project to put together an oral history.

"That’s so important because those are memories that would be lost when generations die out," Parry said. "Lauren has been trying to capture as many as possible while she is here.

"Once those oral histories are gathered we can make them available on the touch screens, fans can hear or search for different stories relating to events in the club’s history. You can have as much data and objects as you can but memories give a sense of somebody’s enthusiasm and passion for the club and different events that have happened over the years."

Park added: "We’ve engaged with various generations, from older people, particularly the [Big Hearts] memories group, where the memories of the 40s, 50s, 60s are really fresh.

"Capturing them first hand and getting a young person’s perspective going through minute books of the same thing and comparing lived experience with documented experience has been really refreshing."

The anniversary celebrations have been viewed as a success, from one-off events to long-term projects.

"We were very clear from the outset we wanted to be as inclusive as possible so we wanted things for the community that would be free," Park said. "We wanted things to be relatively low price, so the Leyton Orient friendly which was steeped in history was £5 and £10 and lots of tickets given away to the community. We reckon 5,000 people joined the march, 150 pipes and drums and a bugle band

"We wanted a lot of echoes to the past so we managed to get Spurs to come up, they had been the opposition for the centenary match.

"The launch of the third strip was right up there. We had discussed bringing out a replica of the original kit for some years and the 150th was the perfect moment. The launch filmed at the City Chambers was stunning and it was to see how thrilled supporters were."