Riverside Museum in Glasgow to open on 21 June

The Riverside Museum is designed by Stirling Prize-winner Zaha Hadid

Glasgow's new £74m Riverside Museum will officially open to the public on 21 June, it has been announced.

The venue, on the banks of the River Clyde, will house the city's transport collection, which was previously displayed at the Kelvin Hall.

With about 3,000 exhibits in almost 150 displays, the museum is expected to become a major visitor attraction.

The Tall Ship Glenlee, which will be berthed alongside the museum, will also open to the public on the same day.

Construction on the complex, which was designed by Stirling Prize-winner Zaha Hadid, began in 2007.

'Cultural powerhouse'

Glasgow Life, an arms-length body of the city council, took possession of the facility in December.

Council leader Gordon Matheson, who will formally open the museum, said: "Glasgow's position as Scotland's cultural powerhouse can only be enhanced by the opening of the Riverside Museum.

"Zaha Hadid's breathtaking design has already been transformed into an iconic building that will bring visitors to the city from all over the world.

"That vision and ambition is being matched inside the building and we are counting down the days until the museum opens to the public."

The Riverside Museum will be the third home for Glasgow's transport collection since the 1960s and the first major museum the council has built since The Burrell Collection opened in 1983.

The previous Transport Museum at the Kelvin Hall in the city's west end attracted almost 500,000 visitors per year.

'Perfect compliment'

The new venue will have the added attraction of the Tall Ship Glenlee, which is due to move from its present berth at Glasgow Harbour.

Dr Christopher Mason, chairman of the Clyde Maritime Trust, said: "The Tall Ship will move to the new Pointhouse Quay on 28 April, so that the Glenlee can be exhibited permanently alongside the new Riverside Museum.

"The ship will be a perfect complement both to Zaha Hadid's building and the collections displayed inside it."

Glasgow City Council has contributed £50.9m towards the cost of the new museum, with an additional £18.1m coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

So far, a public appeal to raise the outstanding £5m has raised £4.1m.