Investing in cultural infrastructure
We are continually investing in expanding, refurbishing and maintaining our cultural and historic resources, to ensure that the public are encouraged to engage with arts and culture.
Our continued support for the National Collections has allowed them to maintain free access to their world class collections, thereby ensuring that no-one is prevented from engaging with Scotland's art, culture and history.
Through Museums Galleries Scotland, the National Development Body for the Scottish museums sector, we support 460 museums and galleries across Scotland that attract around 25 million visitors, generate more than £79 million and sustain more than 3,500 tourism-related jobs each year.
In 2017, we worked with Historic Environment Scotland and partners to develop a long-term Infrastructure Investment Plan for restoring, enhancing and conserving our built heritage to support our tourism industry and to continue to provide a world-class experience for visitors.
Capital projects underway in 2018 include:
- completion of the £80 million V&A Museum of Design in Dundee
- a £16.8 million extension to the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh (due for completion in autumn)
- a £10 million refurbishment of the National Library of Scotland in Causewayside, Edinburgh (due for completion in March)
Projects completed in 2017 include the £11 million Engine Shed project, which created Scotland's first national centre for historic environment conservation skills.
Projects completed in 2016 include a £35 million refurbishment of Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.
New Lanark Trust
The Scottish Ministers in exercise of their powers under Section 45A of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (as amended) provided New Lanark Trust (“the Grantee”) a grant of up to £2,439,000 sterling, payable over the financial year 2020-21 in connection with essential site maintenance and urgent turbine repair.
New Lanark Trust offer many benefits to the local and regional communities: economic; cultural and educational; outreach opportunities to disadvantaged and underrepresented groups; scope for community participation; direct employment opportunities; increased tourism that will bring income to the wider community; support for existing creative professionals and local hospitality businesses and support for heritage craft skills alongside public access to the house.
This grant enabled New Lanark Trust to invest in the physical and operational infrastructure of the World Heritage site in the light of COVID losses and to commence repairs of the Turbine which has been found to have suffered “ a catastrophic mechanical failure”.
This subsidy pursues the Scottish Government public policy objective of supporting organisations facing difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In ensuring that New Lanark Trust can continue to operate despite the difficulties of the past 15 months, this will in turn allow the Trust to actively promote Scotland’s Heritage and grow the Scottish economy once the pandemic restrictions are lifted.