Agenda item

With reference to Article 18 of the Council meeting of 24 June, 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which outlined the progress to date on the proposal to redevelop the Art Gallery.

The report outlined the history of the proposed redevelopment, and advised that Gareth Hoskins Architects, who had been appointed in August, 2009, had recently completed the development study for the project.  The study proposed five options for the redevelopment of the gallery.  It was noted that a pre-application had been lodged with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the redevelopment, and the report advised that in order to make a Stage One application to the HLF, a conservation statement on the Art Gallery would be required.  As this would be outwith the scope of the original development study, the request for funding of the conservation statement would be referred to the next Finance and Resources Committee for consideration.

The report also detailed the ongoing work to investigate how to provide accommodation for the museums and galleries collections not currently on display.  It was noted that the redevelopment of the Art Gallery would be eased if a new facility to house the collections was in place prior to the commencement of the redevelopment work.  Without a new facility to store the collections, the cost and time to complete the redevelopment project would increase.  The facility could also be used as an exhibition space and would provide a safe and secure environment for the collections.

The report advised that funding for the redevelopment of the Art Gallery and the provision of a museums collections centre would be sought from the Non Housing Capital Programme in the 2013/2014 financial year and the following two financial years.  It was stressed that a funding campaign would be an integral part of a successful redevelopment project and a further report would be presented to Committee at its meeting in September, 2010, which would outline the proposals for this campaign.  This report would also include recommendations for the preferred redevelopment option and details of any potential funders to be considered.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)       note the work to date;

(b)       remit the report to the Finance and Resources Committee on 17^th June, 2010, to consider funding the conservation statement, estimated cost, £19,444 plus VAT, for the Art Gallery, if required as part of the proposed Stage One application to the Heritage Lottery Fund;

(c)        instruct officers to prepare a capital business case for further consideration and report to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee on 16^th September, 2010, and Finance and Resources Committee on 28^th September, 2010, to include recommendations on the most appropriate option to redevelop the Art Gallery, and on the commitment the Council is being requested to make at that stage; and

(d)       instruct officers to report to a future meeting of the Committee on how best to improve access to the Museums and Galleries Collections.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.