Grant funding has been awarded towards the £19.4 million Citizens Theatre redevelopment project in Glasgow.

Councillors have awarded an extra £1m for the scheme, bringing total funding support towards the project from the council to £5m.

Work to refurbish the 140-year-old building is scheduled to start on site later this year and completion is expected by December 2020.

Cllr Kenny McLean said: "I am delighted that the council has approved this final piece of funding for the redevelopment of the Citizens Theatre, for so long a great ambassador for Glasgow, delivering notably successful community programmes and where so many theatrical careers have been launched.

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"This project complements much of what we are doing in the Laurieston and Gorbals area, and I am sure that when complete, we will have an asset for all of Glasgow that brings us fantastic cultural, economic and social benefits."

Judith Kilvington, Executive Director of the Citizens Theatre, said: "We warmly welcome the news today that Glasgow City Council's City Administration Committee has approved an additional £1 million of funding for our transformational redevelopment project.

"I'm proud that our Victorian home in the Gorbals has served communities throughout Glasgow and beyond for 140 years. This additional funding is essential not only to the redevelopment of the Citizens Theatre, but to the regeneration of the Gorbals and Laurieston. Today's announcement takes us one big step closer to securing our future."

(LM/MH)