Infrastructure Investment Plan 2015: progress report 2018-2019

Culture, Heritage And Tourism

Maintaining capital investment in the culture, heritage and tourism sectors supports the continued delivery of a wide range of key Scottish Government outcomes, providing significant economic stimulus and successfully leveraging additional investment from other sources across the public, private and third sectors. We are investing in key infrastructure – including our historic environment, a key part of our national identity, and an essential driver for our tourism industry.

Ongoing multi-year key programmes are:

• Storage facilities for Scotland's National Collections;
• Estates conservation for Historic Environment Scotland's Properties in Care;
• Repairs and improvements for the National Collections estate and Historic Environment Scotland's visitor facilities; and
• Refurbishment programme for Visit Scotland's iCentre estate and digital investment for 'Scotand Is Now'.

Project progress in 2018-19 includes:

• The opening of V&A Dundee in September 2018 - a £25 million capital grant and £12.6 million growth accelerator investment towards the new £80.1 million Museum, the first ever dedicated design museum in Scotland;
• £11 million invested in the external refurbishment of the National Library of Scotland's (NLS) Causewayside building in Edinburgh completed in April 2019, providing an improved space for managing the Library's collections and co-locating the majority of NLS's digitisation activities on one site;
• Next steps and construction start for the redevelopment of the Scottish National Gallery (SNG) in Edinburgh - £5.5 million towards the £22 million project which will showcase the National Galleries of Scotland's amazingly rich collection of historic Scottish art, which contains masterpieces by Henry Raeburn, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Scottish Colourists as well as giving direct access to the rest of the SNG's international collection;
• Construction start for a new visitor facility in Galashiels - £2.5 million investment towards the £6.7 million project, which will provide a permanent home for the Great Tapestry of Scotland, depicting key episodes from 12,000 years of the history of Scotland and making an important contribution towards the regeneration of Galashiels.