Kelvingrove contains one of Europe's foremost civic museum collections. © Glasgow City Council (Museums)
Glagsow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum opens on July 11 2006, after a three-year, £27.9 million refurbishment.
Visitors will once again be able to view old favourites from the Kelvingrove collection and see a range of new exhibits and features with increased floor space, new galleries, a conference and lecture theatre, new education rooms, a restaurant and shops.
There is 35% more exhibition space largely due to the basement being opened for the first time and some 8,000 exhibits are now on display compared to the 5,000 before restoration began.
Dali's Christ Of St John Of The Cross, a Kelvingrove icon. © Glasgow City Council (Museums)
Salvador Dali’s legendary painting Christ Of St John Of The Cross returns to the museum from the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art where it had been on loan and Spitfire LA198 from the 602 City of Glasgow Squadron is suspended from the roof of the west court.
Other important features at Kelvingrove include the Charles Rennie Mackintosh gallery and a collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts on loan from the British Museum. The Campbell Hunter Education wing is also due to open there in 2007.
“The impact of the reopening of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on tourism in Glasgow simply cannot be overestimated,” said Scott Taylor, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau. “It was Scotland’s most popular free attraction when it closed in 2003 and will be one of Europe’s ‘must-sees’ when it reopens.”
Kelvingrove - more space, more exhibits, more to do and see. © Glasgow City Council (Museums)
Kelvingrove was the most popular museum in the UK outside of London before it closed on June 29 2003 for the refurbishment work and it attracted more than one million visitors each year. It holds one of Europe’s most important civic collections.
The total cost of the restoration was £27.9m, with £13m coming from a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, £12m from Glasgow City Council and the European Regional Development Fund, £500,000 from Historic Scotland and a further £2.5m from private sponsorship and fund raising through the Kelvingrove Refurbishment Appeal.
Brian Lang, HLF Committee Chair, said: “Kelvingrove has always been an icon of Glasgow, firing local pride and attracting more visitors than any other non-London museum.”
Spitfire LA198 hangs from the roof of Kelvingrove's west court. © Glasgow City Council (Museums)
“The makeover has rejuvenated this much loved building and transformed the galleries so that the treasure trove of collections can spark so many more stories.”
Kelvingrove first opened to the public in 1901 when it was a major part of the Glasgow International Exhibition and its original collections came mainly from the McLellan Galleries and the City Industrial Museum, which had been opened in 1870 at the former Kelvingrove Mansion.
The building originally cost more than £250,000 to complete, using profits from the 1888 International Exhibition at Kelvingrove Park, public subscription and funding from the Town Council.
