A transformational project to reimagine the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens in Glasgow has secured funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund that paves the way to a wider £7.5million award.

Glasgow Life, the charity which delivers culture and sport in the city, today (Wednesday 17 January) confirmed initial development funding of £850,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

This major milestone allows the vision to restore the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens as a vibrant museum and thriving community space to progress, protecting this invaluable cultural and heritage asset for generations.

The Heritage Fund grant enables Glasgow Life to engage with more of the city’s communities about the project, so every aspect of this exciting project is informed by their views. This investment will focus on making the building more accessible for all and improving its environmental sustainability.

The development phase will take around 16 months and will facilitate work with Glasgow’s diverse communities to discover how the museum can best tell the city’s stories, making sure more people’s heritage is on display in the refreshed museum. It will lead to a Heritage Fund second stage application, which will secure an additional £6.65 million of support.

Bailie Annette Christie, Chair of Glasgow Life, said:

For 126 years the People's Palace and Winter Gardens has been one of Glasgow’s most treasured spaces, but it is now in need of significant investment.

This announcement of Heritage Fund support is wonderful and crucial to breathing new life into the museum. While there is still work to be done to secure additional external funding, we can now move forward with this exciting project to restore, re-imagine, and improve a much-loved cultural and historical asset.

We will use all we have learned about engaging with communities, developing innovative digital technology, and designing accessible spaces, to celebrate the people of Glasgow and tell the city’s stories in a world-class, accessible, and sustainable museum. This will bring a wealth of social and economic benefits to the people in the East End of Glasgow and beyond.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, added:

I am delighted we are supporting this inspiring project, which is not only about redeveloping a much-loved building, but also rediscovering the story of Glasgow and putting the People's Palace and Winter Gardens back in the heart of local communities.

This initial support paves the way for an award of up to £7.5 million, which would be amongst the largest Heritage Fund awards made to a single project in Scotland. This reflects our new strategy to invest larger amounts in truly exceptional heritage projects across the UK, supporting our vision for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.

Glasgow is also one of the first of 20 places around the UK that will share in our £200 million Heritage Places programme, announced last year.

The cost of the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens project is £35.9 million. Glasgow City Council has already committed £2.9 million to the project. A further £11m contribution will come from Glasgow City Council, while Glasgow Life continues to work with other public and private sector funders to secure the remaining investment required.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, Glasgow City Council’s City Convener for Neighbourhood Services and Assets, said:

It’s great news that such a significant funding award has been secured for the People’s Palace. This award can add £7.5million to the pot, which would be a massive step closer to the goal of revitalising the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens.

We remain fully committed to exploring every avenue to raise the remainder of the funding required to bring this major part of Glasgow’s working-class history back to life. We want to see the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens fully restored and functioning as a great cultural attraction for Glasgow’s residents and visitors alike.

Set in historic Glasgow Green, the iconic building is home to collections documenting the city’s social history from 1750 to the present day. The ‘new’ People’s Palace and Winter Gardens will be a dynamic community-led museum and flexible space, which will foster new ways to promote inclusion, access, and participation, and minimise its impact on the environment.

By collaborating with local people, the project team will learn how to transform the space and displays, both physically and through content, to encourage those under-served by heritage to come into the museum.

Glasgow Life will follow its successful community-centred approach, as used at The Burrell Collection, and local people will shape all aspects of the refurbishment, including collecting, interpretation, and programming. The revitalised People’s Palace and Winter Gardens will be a place by people, for people, with people.

Early consultation suggests this could include better wayfinding, new accessible toilets, and spaces that support wellbeing such as a dedicated quiet space.

The operational services and fabric of the building will also be refurbished, improving the museum and glasshouse’s energy efficiency; with modern heating and cooling systems that will enhance its environmental performance.

Given its setting within one of Glasgow’s most popular green spaces, one ambition of the project is to better connect the museum and visitors with nature and the surrounding park.

This community centred approach, combined with a café and retail space, and by developing the Winter Gardens as a flexible events space, will create a local museum with international significance. It will reposition the East End of Glasgow on the tourist map and contribute to the local economy.

Isobel Wilson of the Friends of Peoples Palace, Winter Gardens and Glasgow Green said:

Today’s announcement of National Lottery funding to support the refurbishment of People’s Palace and Winter Gardens is excellent news. Our aim is to advocate for the care, preservation and enhancement of this much-loved museum and glasshouse.

We look forward to working with Glasgow Life, their partners and local communities to renew the People's Palace, a place of Glasgow's social history, and restore the Winter Gardens as a place of botanical inspiration".

Further information, including opening hours, can be found at www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/venues/peoples-palace