Kelvin Hall to reopen as multipurpose cultural space 7 Jul 2016

A first section of Kelvin Hall in Glasgow is opening in the summer following a £35m redevelopment. Described by Herald Scotland as ‘three times the size of the Tate Modern, abandoned for 30 years [and] with a vertiginous smoke stack’, its redevelopment exemplifies the idea of bringing a range of cultural facilities under one roof. A state-of-the-art health and fitness club will sit alongside publicly accessible storage for Glasgow Museums, National Library of Scotland digital collections, University of Glasgow teaching and learning spaces, a cafe and shops. In a second phase of the project the Hunterian Museum will move in. Professor Murray Pittock, Pro Vice-Principal of the University of Glasgow, said: “Kelvin Hall…brings together for the first time anywhere in the world civic organisations, higher education and national institutions under one roof. [It] will help students wanting to study at the University of Glasgow to engage in completely new ways through the 1.5 million objects and specimens that will be housed there. It will allow the development of major research projects by our national and international partners, including the Smithsonian.” Glasgow Life, Herald Scotland