The Scottish government's support for the museum was revealed during the launch of Renfrewshire Council’s Economic Strategy 2020-2030, which lays out plans to grow the area's economy over the next decade and includes tourism as one of its key sectors.
Scotland's cabinet secretary for culture, tourism and external affairs Fiona Hyslop spoke at the event, which was also attended by Scotland's cabinet secretary for finance, economy and fair work Derek Mackay. Hyslop said: "I am pleased to announce that the Scottish government is contributing £2 million to the ambitious Paisley Museum project, which will engage the local community and showcase the design heritage of this town to the wider world, while contributing to the overall regeneration of Paisley."
The £42m Paisley Museum Reimagined project is being taken forward by Renfrewshire Council and includes support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Scottish government's Regeneration Capital Grant Fund. Paisley Museum will reopen in 2022 telling the town's story.
It is expected to draw audiences from Scotland, the rest of the UK and abroad and almost quadruple visitor numbers to 125,000 a year. Paisley Museum is being redesigned by international architects AL_A - led by Stirling Prize winner Amanda Levete - and the first images showing what it will look like were revealed last month.
The transformation includes a new wing to the existing building and an outdoor garden - opening up access to the Coats Observatory and reconnecting it and the museum to the town's High Street - as well as internal renovations to improve accessibility and allow the museum to double the number of objects on show.
Renfrewshire's Economic Strategy 2020-2030 sets out how the area will benefit from a £1.4bn investment in economic infrastructure, innovation and skills, and details a series of actions to add more than 9,000 jobs to the economy and bring 3,000 local people into the workforce. There is a major focus on growing the tourism and visitor sectors through projects like the museum and by expanding Renfrewshire's creative industries.
Renfrewshire Council leader Iain Nicolson said: "Paisley Museum Reimagined will enable us to share our story with the world and create a world-class destination that will attract more visitors to Renfrewshire. I am delighted that the Scottish Government is fully behind the project and welcome their support as we invest in our unique culture and heritage to transform our future.
"Growing our tourism and visitor numbers is a key focus of our work to create a strong, thriving local economy, bringing more people into work, with more secure jobs and better wages.
"We have set out our ambitions in a new economic strategy developed through close collaboration between the private and public sector and this partnership approach will be central to achieving Renfrewshire's inclusive economic growth."
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