Friday September 4th 2026
Glasgow City Council has approved a new £5m grant towards the revamp of the People's Palace (image from Glasgow City Council)
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Drew Sandelands
Calls for Glasgow to receive more national funding towards the upkeep of its museums have been renewed, as councillors agreed to provide an extra £5m to revamp the People’s Palace.
The project, which will upgrade the A-listed social history museum and Winter Gardens, has increased in cost from just under £36m to slightly over £50m. It is expected to be complete by December 2029.
A recent Scottish Government commitment to spend up to £14m on the refurbishment has been welcomed by councillors, but there have long been calls for Glasgow to receive national help with running its museums, as money is provided to venues in Edinburgh.
Bailie Anthony Carroll, Glasgow Greens co-leader, said the People’s Palace is a “national asset” and that should be reflected in funding received from the Scottish Government.
He said plans for the People’s Palace included attracting up to 600,000 visitors in the first year, which is “over twice as many as the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland and that gets national funding”.
“I think in terms of the funding streams that are available for the future, we do need more national level funding, in the same way they reflect in Edinburgh, for our national museums,” he added.
Bailie Annette Christie, SNP, the council’s culture convener, said she “couldn’t agree more about the importance not only of the People’s Palace as a national asset but all of Glasgow’s museums”.
“In fact, Glasgow’s civic museums are the busiest civic museums in the whole of the UK, outside of London,” she said.
“I continue to speak with colleagues in the Scottish Government about the importance of not only those magnificent buildings themselves but what they do for the local and national economy.”
Bailie Christie added she is personally “aiming for one million [visitors] and that’s my challenge to the team.
At a meeting on Thursday, councillors agreed to a new £5m grant towards the People’s Palace project, taking the city council’s total contribution to £20.9m.
More than £12m of the £50.86m is still to be secured, with a decision on a £9.15m to the National Lottery Heritage Fund expected this month. A fundraising campaign by Glasgow Life, the council’s culture and leisure arm, is expected to cover the rest of the cost.
Bailie Christie, who is also chair of Glasgow Life, said it is a “once in a generation project to restore and reimagine one of Glasgow’s most loved and important cultural landmarks”.
She said there is now “a clear route to securing the remaining investment”.
Construction inflation and market volatility have had an impact on the cost, she added, and there is a “longer timescale than initially intended”.
“But once again, this is a once in a generation investment and our responsibility is to make sure we deliver a reimagined People’s Palace and Winter Gardens that will last for generations.
“The focus has been on getting this right and delivering a magnificent cultural venue that will benefit the people of Glasgow and attract visitors from across the globe, especially the diaspora.”
A council report stated the £50.86m includes around £7.5m for “inflation, optimism bias and contingency”. It added the UK Government has been approached and “to date has declined the offer to support the project”.
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