Sauchiehall Street: Culture and Heritage District Awarded Funding

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) has announced an investment of over £7 million to help revitalise the historic town centres of Airdrie, Girvan, Tarbert and Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street.

The funding will breathe new life into historic buildings in need, helping boost local economies while strengthening connections between communities and the heritage on their doorstep.

The new funding will deliver a breadth of benefits: saving significant built heritage, revitalising high streets, improving shopfronts, creating sustainable tourism opportunities and increasing heritage skills. 

A place of rich social, cultural and architectural heritage, filled with memories for generations of Glaswegians, Sauchiehall Street: Culture and Heritage District has been awarded £2.3m. This is part of a long-term National Lottery-funded programme Heritage Places, which is supporting the vital role of heritage in making local areas better places to live, work and visit across the UK.

This is the second phase of funding to Sauchiehall Street from the Heritage Fund, with initial support of £350,000 awarded in 2024 to develop plans for the Sauchiehall Street: Culture and Heritage District.

The street is internationally famed for its history of entertainment, music, theatre, retail, socialising and built heritage.

This investment will preserve the historic McLellan Galleries, one of Glasgow’s earliest purpose-built gallery spaces and a key cultural landmark of Sauchiehall Street. It will enable new and creative uses of the Galleries with The Scottish Ensemble as one of three cultural partners already committed to using the new flexible space alongside Glasgow Film and youth charity Articulate.

Other creative heritage initiatives will thread through Sauchiehall Street, restoring the Victorian Cameron Memorial Fountain, exploring housing and greenspace opportunities, buildings improvement programme, artist residencies and community archiving alongside a community grants scheme. 

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “This marks an exciting moment, with fantastic investments in places that connect communities with their heritage gems. From Glasgow’s iconic Sauchiehall Street, a place woven into decades of shared memories, to transforming the oldest public library in Scotland to celebrate the stories, people and places that shape us.

“Understanding how communities feel about their heritage is vital to meaningful regeneration, and we’re proud to invest in four exceptional places where historic buildings will be restored and repurposed for everyone to enjoy, now and for generations.

“Thanks to National Lottery players over the last 30 years, we’ve invested over £1bn in 5,100 projects in Scotland ensuring heritage is valued, cared for and sustained. These projects will boost wellbeing, create learning opportunities for young people and make heritage a powerful driver of local pride and prosperity.”

Katie Duffy, Head of Arts and Music at Glasgow Life said: “We’re very grateful for this £2.3 million National Lottery investment, which allows us to renew several of the street’s historic and cultural assets.

“Through careful regeneration, community-focused projects, and cultural programmes, we hope to bring new life to Sauchiehall Street while respecting its heritage and the role it plays in people’s everyday lives. This funding supports us in working with communities and partners, to ensure the significant value and contribution of the street to the city is realised over the coming decade and that it continues to have an impactful role in Glasgow’s cultural landscape.”

James Hardie, Chief Executive at Scottish Ensemble, said: "We’re thrilled to be one of the first organisations to have the chance to make use of the spaces in McLellan Galleries, alongside our partners at Glasgow Film and Articulate Cultural Trust. At Scottish Ensemble, nothing excites us more than collaboration, which sits at the heart of our ethos and identity. The McLellan Galleries project represents an opportunity to help create something truly special: a unique cultural offer for audiences and local communities, right in the heart of our home city of Glasgow. We can’t wait to get started."

Eona Craig, Chief Executive of the Articulate Cultural Trust, added: "Articulate is thrilled to support the regeneration of the McLellan Galleries with the help of the care experienced and other marginalised young people and young adults who work with us at the charity. The next two years will be an exciting, but also critical time for this much-loved building, this dynamic and unusual new cultural partnership, and for this iconic Glasgow street as we work to realise a vibrant, inclusive, creative future together."

Brian Fulton, Director of The Garage nightclub and Vice Chair of the Glasgow City Bid Improvement District, said: “This investment is a timely and significant endorsement of Sauchiehall Street’s long-term potential and a real show of belief in its people, businesses, and culture. It builds on the momentum of activity we’re already seeing on the street and it will help unlock further opportunities. Heritage isn’t just about the past, it’s about supporting places where people live, work and socialise, and this funding will strengthen Sauchiehall Street as the vibrant heart of Glasgow for years to come.”