Aberdeen Art Gallery is to be redeveloped thanks to a £10m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The grant is in addition to the £10m Aberdeen City Council has already pledged to the project. It is understood the council has also agreed to underwrite a fundraising campaign for the remaining £10m needed.

Last Autumn, plans to improve the Art Gallery, Cowdray Hall and Memorial Court received planning permission and listed building consent from the relevant authorities. The project will cost around £30m to complete.

As part of the redevelopment, new educational facilities will allow more opportunities for people to learn about the arts, while the upgrading of Cowdray Hall will create a new performance space for performers and audiences. The war memorial will also be carefully restored.

It is hoped construction work at the Art Gallery and Cowdray Hall will be completed by 2017, while the construction of a Museums Collections Centre in the Northfield regeneration area will allow for art works and historical objects to be stored during the work.

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Welcoming the HLF grant, Aberdeen City Council Leader, Councillor Jenny Laing, said: "I am thoroughly delighted that HLF has supported the scheme with this sizeable capital grant – the only one to be awarded in Scotland in the latest round of awards. Investment in the art gallery and its collections will ensure that this great city's artistic heritage is protected and enhanced for many years to come.

"We are now embarking upon the fundraising campaign to raise the rest of the capital funding required. I would urge organisations, businesses and individuals to invest in the much-loved Aberdeen gallery and the wider project so that they can say that this project was something they themselves helped to make happen."

Colin McLean, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland, added: "HLF is delighted to support this transformational project which will give the north east of Scotland a world-class cultural centre worthy of the exceptional art works it will house. This substantial investment reflects HLF's aims of increasing cultural opportunities across the country and creating new ways for people to engage with their heritage.

"This historic building will bring the past up-to-date with dynamic displays and contemporary interpretation. It will not only attract more tourists to the area but will benefit the wider community as they explore and enjoy their rich heritage in a gallery of which they can be proud."

(JP/MH)