Paisley museum refurbishment plans budget increased to £65m by council

Costs linked to the transformation of Paisley Museum have spiralled again as the project’s budget climbs to just over £65m.

Elected members agreed an extra £12.5m should be directed to the previous budget of £52.8m for the regeneration – which has been troubled by multiple delays – at Thursday’s full meeting of Renfrewshire Council.

As construction progressed, a number of issues emerged that were “significantly worse” than expected, while a “range of unforeseen defects” were also uncovered.

According to a report by Alastair MacArthur, director of finance and resources, which provided an update on the facility’s ongoing refurbishment.

The situation has prompted Councillor Eddie Devine, who represents Paisley Southeast, to warn: “There hasn’t been enough control of this project.”

The veteran politician added: “Nobody seems to be in charge of it. They really needed to look at cutting back on what they were going to do to try and stay somewhere near the budget they had set, but there’s been none of that at all.

“It might have been reported to a different committee that I’m not on, but there doesn’t seem to be any clarity on how much we are going to spend.

“When does this money stop getting spent? If we can’t afford it, we can’t afford it, but there doesn’t seem to be a limit.

“We need to look at what we’re spending and what we’re getting out of it.”

It emerged last month that construction work is not expected to finish until July of next year. Once this stage is complete, a fit-out process and object installation are due to follow.

The paper by Mr MacArthur shed further detail on the issues that have caused complications during the job.

It explained: “As the construction project has progressed, many issues have been significantly worse than anticipated, and a range of unforeseen defects have also been uncovered.

“Such issues have involved significant areas of the building structure including rotted roof joists, dry rot, wet rot, asbestos, extensive plasterwork repairs that have hampered and delayed progress on site, historic drainage failures and for which Keir has been entitled under the contract to additional extensions of time to remedy and complete the project.

“In addition to costs associated with providing Keir with the approved contractual extension of time to complete the project, the cost to remedy such issues have been greater than anticipated based on early survey work or were unforeseen costs at the outset of the project and which cumulatively have cost more than the general risk contingency for the project.

“This is further compounded by other contractor issues and delays to progress on site.”

However, the report said the approach taken with the funding adjustment mitigates any impact on other aspects of the council’s overall capital programme.

The museum is regarded as a flagship project within a wider investment in the town – which has included the town hall, learning and cultural hub and arts centre – that could provide a notable boost for the economy in Renfrewshire.

It has included repairing and renovating all buildings on the campus and delivering a 20 per cent increase in the overall usable area.

A joint statement from the council and OneRen said: “The transformed Paisley Museum will be a world-class visitor attraction at the heart of the region’s cultural regeneration.

“It is already internationally award-winning for its design and will be a destination which celebrates Renfrewshire’s incredible heritage, bringing significant social and economic benefits to our communities.

“The work being undertaken is technically complex, across a suite of historic buildings. It is a project which will bring one of our area’s great heritage assets up to modern-day standards, protecting its long-term future.

“We are working well with our contractors, Keir. This is the first major refurbishment in the 150-year history of the campus, and the team has encountered a number of challenges, which only became apparent through progressing this major modernisation.

“We are working alongside Keir to overcome these, but this has impacted the project timescale and budget.

“We are grateful to all of our funders for their support as we work together to create a destination which showcases Paisley and Renfrewshire’s historic place in the world like never before.

“Every step is being taken to mitigate the potential for increased costs and to complete work as soon as possible.”

While the council has funded a significant amount of the project, it has also been supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Scottish Government and its Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, as well as a number of other trusts, foundations and private donors.