The warehouse at the National Museum of Scotland is to be revamped and extended, the Scotsman newspaper has reported.

It follows an £8.7m grant from the Scottish Government, designed to allow the museum to store collections in new facilities.

All sorts of items will be relocated, from whale skeletons to traction engines.

The grant coincides with the opening of an International Culture Summit in Edinburgh.

-- Advertisement --

National Museums Scotland director Gordon Rintoul said: "This investment will provide sustainable, purpose-built facilities that are suitable for the collections, staff and the public."

Just weeks ago, the Heritage Lottery Fund announced it would spend £4.85m on the revamp of the National Museum of Scotland complex on Chambers Street, which will help pay for eight new galleries to be built there by 2016.

Demolition work on three 20-year-old buildings at Granton, the museum's current home, is expected to begin within months to allow the new state-of-the-art warehouse to be ready by spring 2015.

(NE)