Dundee V&A museum moves closer to funding target

An artist's impression of Dundee's V&A museum. Picture: Contributed

The award from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) was hailed as a “massive vote of confidence” for the flagship development, due for completion at the end of 2016.

The Scottish Government has already pledged a total of £15m in capital funding towards the project, and almost £7m has also been raised from private sources.

Announcing the award at a press conference in Dundee, Dame Seona Reid, the deputy chair of the HLF, described the grant, which will bring the fund’s investment in Scotland’s museums and art galleries to £177m, as “fantastic news for Dundee and for Scotland”.

She said: “For hundreds of years, Scots have made their mark in the world of international design. V&A at Dundee can now present this rich seam of talent to the world, in a stunning building which itself reflects the international cutting-edge design which will also be presented.

“We are delighted that in this, the Year of Homecoming, Dundee is one of the many cities across the UK that will reap the long-lasting benefit of Heritage Lottery funding.”

Dame Seona, a former director of the Scottish Arts Council, added: “This new world-class museum is an exciting addition to the sector, providing a source of education and delight for visitors, while making a transformational contribution to the cultural, social and economic regeneration of the city.

“There can be little doubt the V&A Dundee is going to have huge impact on the continuing cultural, social and economic regeneration of this city.”

The new V&A museum on Dundee's waterfront

And she stressed: “HLF would not have agreed to this grant unless it was confident that both the capital and the revenue funding would be in place at the point at which it needed to be in place.”

Philip Long, the director of V&A at Dundee, said: “Today’s news underlines just how far the project has come. HLF have scrutinised our proposal from top to bottom so this award is a massive vote of confidence in the project.

“It is fantastic to have HLF support. With HLF support, now we can get on and we can make

V&A Dundee happen.”