Hansard

Yes—I totally accept James Dornan’s point. Of the 9,000 items in the collection, only about 2,000 are on display at any particular time and the collection has not been refreshed for many years.

Regardless of what Sir William Burrell’s reasons were for not wanting the collection to tour, we as a committee accepted the need for change. However, there are issues relating to the Burrell gallery refurbishment that can be addressed by Glasgow City Council in order to alleviate some of the other concerns. The council should outline how it arrived at the £45 million refurbishment cost and what it hopes that level of investment will achieve. During the evidence session that was held at Pollok house we heard that the aims are to replace the roof, to increase the gallery space by 20 per cent by creating a new picture gallery in the underused lecture theatre, and to upgrade the facilities. Would that really cost £45 million?

Then, there is the question of funding. The council has stated that it will fund a third of the cost, the lottery will fund another third and donations and sponsorship will provide the other £15 million. Less than 7 per cent of the cost of the new Riverside museum, which opened in 2011, was raised from donations and sponsorship, yet the council expects to raise a third of the cost of the Burrell collection refurbishment from commercial sources—in the current economic climate. What will happen if that funding is not found? Will the council use the £15 million that was earmarked for the aborted George Square refurbishment to close the gap?

Another issue is the timing of the refurbishment, which is due to start in 2016. What will happen between now and then? Will the gallery remain open for that two-year period? What steps will the council take to protect the items that are on display during that time? Consideration also has to be given to the 200,000 people, many from overseas, who visit the gallery every year. During the estimated four-year closure period, will the council provide a temporary display area for the collection so that the city continues to benefit from it? One option may be to use the McLellan galleries, which have been closed for 10 years but were recently brought back into temporary use by the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, which hosted its 152nd annual exhibition there in December.

The Burrell collection was left to the people of Glasgow, and it is now time that the council informed its citizens what its detailed plans are for refurbishment of the Burrell gallery.