Sauchiehall Street set for another cash injection for 10-year improvement plan
Bosses at Glasgow Life will deliver a programme of events as well as physical improvements to restore vitality into the iconic street
Last updated 21st Jan 2025
Sauchiehall Street is set to receive another cash injection in the region of £10 million - as Glasgow Life and the National Lottery Heritage Fund team up to try and regenerate the area.
The Sauchiehall Street Culture and Heritage District project is planning to deliver both physical improvements and a programme of events over the next decade.
It hopes to uncover stories and memories of the street, animate it with lively activities, and renew its global appeal as a centre of culture and music.
The initial 'discovery' phase of the project is now underway - with passers-by invited to give feedback on the Street at Edward House.
Feedback cards already posted highlighted a lack of atmosphere, homelessness and a tired and dull appearance as key issues.
Glasgow Life is planning several events to take place on the street over the summer - including a large scale social dance of Strip the Willow on Burns Day - outdoor concerts, exhibitions and displays.
Billy Garrett, director of culture, tourism and events, said: "Whilst it is a long-term partnership, to make real transformation, you can't do that overnight.
"If you look at other parts of the city where major things have happened, like Govan, if you look at the Gorbals, where neighbourhoods have been transformed, it's taken years.
"However, one of the key elements of this project and what we're trying to do in this space is talk to people, talking to communities, talking to businesses, talking to some of the cultural institutions.
"Already a lot of the feedback has been about a real feeling that we need to do things now, that we need to make little changes now, just to change the dynamic, try and change the narrative.
"So this weekend, for instance, we've got, in partnership with Glasgow 850, we've got a Strip the Willow on the street that could be a really big event.
"We're quite clear that just doing a Strip the Willow on Circuit Hall Street is not going to dramatically change the fortunes of Sauchiehall Street.
"But what is it doing? Along with some of the other elements of that programme that we talked about, the artists and communities, the music stages and the festivals and the partnerships with Nice and Sleazy and the partnerships with the Conservatoire and the interventions we're making in and around the street.
"It's designed to just begin to change the narrative, just begin to animate Sauchiehall Street, to make people think slightly differently about the street, to the look and feel of the street to change."
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