Opened in 1927, the Kelvin Hall has hosted many important events for Glasgow, such as the city's contribution to the Festival of Britain, the Exhibition of Industrial Power in 1951. Other key events include the annual Christmas Carnival (until the mid-1980s), and many sporting occasions, notably world title boxing bouts, indoor athletics championships and grand prix gymnastics.

A key addition to the complex was the relocation of the Museum of Transport - from Albert Drive - in 1987. The Museum of Transport will close next month (18 April) and its displayed collection will be vacated in the following months ahead of the opening of the Riverside Museum in the spring of 2011.

At the same time, the indoor athletics track will become redundant with the opening of the National Indoor Sports Arena (NISA) and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in 2012. The major sporting events that have been synonymous with the Kelvin Hall will now be held at NISA, allowing the staff at Kelvin Hall to focus on an uninterrupted programme of sport and fitness.

Given these developments, it is clear that a review of the future of the complex was necessary. Glasgow City Council has been working with Culture and Sport Glasgow to identify a sustainable legacy use for the Kelvin Hall.

The Executive Committee today unanimously approved £85,000 funding to take the two preferred options (see below) to a more detailed stage, to complete a master planning exercise and to support a Stage 1 HLF application. The committee will also be asked to consider a further report in the autumn regarding the outcome of this work.

The first of these preferred options uses more of the Kelvin Hall ‘footprint’ for revenue earning and saving functions, and the upgrades to the building systems will provide a more efficient building. There are no partnership proposals incorporated in this option and, as a result, there is large capital investment required from GCC. The cost for this option includes for upgrading the existing indoor athletics arena for use as a boxing venue for the 2014 Games. It is anticipated that a significant saving on capital required can be realised in the next phase of design development for this option without adversely affecting revenue generating capacity. There are two distinct strands to this option.

In addition to the works carried out in the ‘Minimum Work to Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Boxing Requirements’ option there will be remodelling to provide a new health and fitness facility, dance studios, a café, and third generation 5-a-side football courts. This will provide a well presented community facility that will generate significantly more income over the previous options. This option includes refurbishing the existing indoor athletics arena to an acceptable standard to facilitate the boxing event.

A basic museum store that meets the minimum standards for collection care is costed in this option. There will be no public access / partnership arrangement with the University with this model and so the likelihood of external funding is reduced.

The second preferred option centres on a strategic partnership with University of Glasgow, and has been the subject of a number of discussions with the Principal and Vice Principal over the last year. During the period of detailed discussions with the University, Glasgow 2014 Ltd floated the possibility of the CWG boxing relocating to the SECC. It was therefore decided to consider an option that did not incur all of the additional capital costs associated with the delivery of a suitable CWG games venue.

A more compact community sports centre has been costed here, centred on the Museum of Transport site. The former indoor athletics arena will be fitted out as an indoor five-a-side football space requiring minimal physical intervention. This approach could be compatible with the possible future redevelopment of this space as a display venue for the Hunterian Museum. There are two strands to this option:

This joint facility would have capacity to house the University collections alongside the City’s objects currently housed at Maryhill. The facility would allow collections access to the joint resource for students and the public. A partnership such as this would be more likely to attract funding from bodies like the Heritage Lottery Fund.

In addition to the first option, there would be a larger health & fitness suite and extra sports hall capacity to cope with the University of Glasgow requirement. The University Sports Union has provided a detailed programme of sporting activity that could take place at Kelvin Hall which would complement the programme elsewhere on their campus. This programme requires exclusive use of an eight court sports hall and two dance studios at peak times during term. The additional capital investment required to provide this extra capacity would have to be met by the University.

It is proposed that Culture and Sport Glasgow will engage with the Council to examine these options in more detail. The design, capital and revenue implications and legal considerations will be explored as part of this process.

The second preferred option would be taken forward in liaison with Glasgow University and would remain based on providing community sports facilities, additional dedicated sports facilities for University use and a shared museum research / storage facility. The feasibility of providing - at some future stage - a display space for the Hunterian Museum would also be examined.

The first option would be a predominantly Council funded option based on providing a community sports facilities to meet strategic demand in this densely populated area of the city, and museum storage facilities to meet the requirements arising from the termination of the lease at the Maryhill museum storage facility. It can also consider some of the city’s archives and records management storage requirements.

For both options the timing of development will be examined to take into account the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the projected opening date for National Indoor Sports Arena and Velodrome, the decant programme for the Riverside Museum and the aspirations of partner organisations, in particular, the University of Glasgow.

Scenarios for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games boxing competition taking place and not taking place at the Kelvin Hall will be considered. It should be noted however that a clear decision would need to be taken by the end of the calendar year if GCC wished to proceed with any of these options for the redevelopment of the Kelvin Hall prior to 2014.

Councillor Archie Graham, Executive Member for Commonwealth Games delivery at Glasgow City Council, said: "The Kelvin Hall has been an integral part of Glasgow’s civic, sporting and cultural calendar for more than 80 years. It is important that as the facility enters a new stage in its life, we consider the best options for the future of this iconic building. Both of these preferred options would provide exciting long-term solutions that would leave a substantial sporting legacy to the city."

Other options that were consider and rejected by the Executive Committee include no investment on the vacated spaces beyond the basic maintenance of the building fabric; carrying out only the minimum of work to meet with Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Boxing requirements; and the closure/mothballing of the complex.

To see the full report considered by the Council’s Executive Committee, please visit:

/councillorsandcommittees/Agenda.asp?meetingid=10214