£15m Gallery extension bid passes first hurdle

A £15.3 MILLION plan to extend the Scottish National Gallery (SNG) into Princes Street Gardens has passed the first stage of an application for nearly £5m in lottery funding.

The plan is to triple the venue's exhibition space. Picture: Kate Chandler

The landmark renovation - entitled Celebrating Scotland’s Art: The Scottish National Gallery Project - will triple the venue’s exhibition space and radically improve access to its world-class collection of Scottish art.

SNG bosses said their bid for £4.94m in cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund had received stage one approval.

We revealed earlier this year how gallery leaders were in negotiation with city council bosses about acquiring a strip of land in the east of the Gardens as part of moves to expand exhibition space.

Michael Clarke, SNG director, said: “We are thrilled that this proposal has been passed to the next stage by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

“As holders of the world’s foremost collection of Scottish art, which includes such incomparable artists as Ramsay, Raeburn and Wilkie, our focus has always been on showing its significance and making it accessible to as wide a public as possible.

“Extending the Gallery space will transform the entire visitor experience.”