£40M Kelvin Hall transformation on target
the first phase of the major redevelopment of the former sports hall into a cultural, academic and sporting facility is expected to be completed in the summer
The £40 million first phase of a major revamp of one of Glasgow's landmark buildings is on track to be completed by the summer.
Former sports arena the Kelvin Hall is being transformed into an innovative museum, capable of housing more than 1.5 million objects, and an academic research centre.
The historic building is set to become a centre of "cultural excellence'' providing secure and publicly-accessible storage for the internationally-important Hunterian collection at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Museums collections.
Sitting near the Kelvingrove Museum and Riverside Museum, project bosses believe it will create a cultural and heritage district to rival any other in the UK outside London.
Phase one of the redevelopment is due to be completed by the summer and should officially open in September, the university confirmed on Tuesday.
University of Glasgow principal Professor Anton Muscatelli said: "Kelvin Hall, when it is completed, will be the best museum district outside of London.
"With Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery across the road and the nearby Riverside Museum, Glasgow's riverside and west end area will become a cultural corridor from the Clyde to Kelvingrove for academia and tourism to rival South Kensington in London.''
The development unites several national organisations under one roof.
The Hunterian will house its new collection study and research facilities, with space for more than 1.5 million items, many of which have never been on public display and are currently stored in nine facilities around the city.
Glasgow Museums, with 400,000 objects, and Glasgow Sports will provide open public access to their collections and sporting facilities, and the National Library of Scotland will move their Scottish Screen Archive to the new Kelvin Hall home.
New postgraduate courses and state-of-the-art research and study areas will also be offered by the university, with the new student intake starting in September.
Hunterian Museum director Professor David Gaimster said the project will "connect collections which have been entirely fragmented for more than 200 years''.
The second phase of the redevelopment will eventually turn the 16,000 sq m hall, which once housed the former Transport Museum, into the new Hunterian. It is expected to be completed by 2020.