The Aberdeen Art Gallery (Scotland) has been awarded a £10 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The money will be used to help fund the upgrading of the building.
The total cost of the project is expected to be £30 million. Aberdeen City Council has agreed to provide £10 million from its non-housing capital fund, and the other £10 million will be raised via fundraising campaigns.
Improvements will be made to the Art Gallery, Cowdray Hall and Memorial Court. Planning permission has already been secured, as has listed building consent, and the project has the complete backing of Historic Scotland.
Aberdeen City Council Leader Councilor Jenny Laing said: "I am thoroughly delighted that HLF has supported the scheme with this sizeable capital grant—the only one to be awarded in Scotland in the latest round of awards."
The Art Gallery will be closed in early 2015 while the work is being carried out and is not expected to reopen until 2017.
The Council is presently embarking on a fund-raising campaign and is urging local residents and businesses to chip-in and offer their support.
Colin McLean, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, said: "HLF is delighted to support this transformational project which will give the north-east of Scotland a world-class cultural center worthy of the exceptional artworks it will house."
The Heritage Lottery Fund is responsible for distributing a share of the funds raised by UK National Lottery Good Causes. HLF grants are awarded to projects designed to sustain and transform the British Heritage.
