Kelvin Hall museums plan on track for £5m lottery funds

The Kelvin Hall has been one of Glasgow's leading sports and museum venues

A scheme to turn Glasgow's Kelvin Hall into a cultural, research and training centre has been given initial approval for almost £5m of lottery funds.

The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a first round pass for the plan to create a safe home for Glasgow's city and university museum collections.

The city council said it would provide access to the city's cultural legacy.

The HLF also confirmed almost £4m in funds for the Battle of Bannockburn visitor centre.

The Kelvin Hall scheme would house a combined 1.5 million treasures from Glasgow's civic collection and from The University of Glasgow's Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery.

Kelvin Hall was home to the city's Museum of Transport, before it moved to its new home at the Riverside Museum.

The hall's international athletics track is also due to close with the opening of the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. The Glasgow Club leisure facilities would remain at the site.

Councillor George Redmond, chairman of Glasgow Life, which runs arts, sport and leisure services for the city, said: "Glasgow is blessed with an abundance of cultural treasures and by working with our partner organisations, we now have an opportunity to safeguard these collections for future generations.

"At the heart of everything we do is a deep desire to ensure that the public can access their cultural legacy, investing in our shared heritage to increase knowledge and the city's reputation as a global cultural capital."

Prof David Gaimster, director of The Hunterian, said: "Kelvin Hall will deliver The University of Glasgow's strategic vision for The Hunterian as a leading global university museum service setting benchmarks in collections research, teaching, training and public engagement. This ambitious partnership between city and university is a first in the UK cultural sector."

Having been awarded a first round pass, the project now has up to two years to submit fully developed proposals for the grant of £4.8m.

'Crucial battle'

The Battle of Bannockburn project has now received its funding of £3.9m for a state-of-the-art visitor attraction to commemorate the battle's 700th anniversary and its place in the history of Scotland.

National Trust for Scotland chief executive Kate Mavor said: "We are creating a stimulating experience that does this historic place justice and tells the complex story of this crucial battle as accurately as possible.

"It will bring visitors face to face with the realities of medieval warfare as well as setting the battle in the context of conflict in the 21st Century."