The Watt Institution has been successfully upgraded as part of a £2.1 million investment and set to reopen next month.

Inverclyde Council has confirmed the facility, which now incorporates the McLean Museum & Art Gallery, Watt Library and Watt Hall, will reopen to the public at 10am on Friday 22 November.

Covener of the Council's Education & Communities Committee, Cllr Jim Clocherty said: "Inverclyde is home to a host of historic buildings and the council works hard to maintain the area's architectural heritage. The Watt Institution is a key facility which preserves a wealth of significant material including letters from Greenock-born inventor and mechanical engineer, James Watt.


"As with any renovation project involving a complex with the earliest part dating back more than 180 years, we ran into some unexpected issues, including more dry and wet rot in the Library's roof. This has now been treated and we're confident that local people will be impressed with the result of the work we've had done.

"The opening hours at the refurbished Watt Institution (both the McLean Museum and the Watt Library) have changed and are Wednesday to Saturday from 10am until 4pm. The reduction in opening hours has been forced on the council due to cuts in our funding."

Preliminary work to address dry rot started in 2016 with work on the main contract to repair the stonework, windows and roof beginning in November 2017. Severe weather over the winter and problems with sourcing the appropriate stone delayed the project which was originally intended to be completed by August 2018.

Inverclyde Council funded the bulk of the work with £300,000 coming from Historic Environment Scotland.

(CM/JG)