SAUCHIEHALL Street in Glasgow is not looking its best these days.

But there is one positive, if frustratingly fleeting, new development there right now: the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) is holding its annual show at the usually mothballed McLellan Galleries.

The RGI had to foot a bill of £100,000 to make this arrangement happen, but it is heartening to see such elegant gallery spaces being used as they were intended, rather than in their usual state: shut down and, essentially, forgotten about.

For those who may not know: these galleries, which belong to Glasgow City Council, are usually closed to the public and artists alike and the council seems to be no closer to deciding what to do with them.

There are many cities and towns who would love to have such galleries close to their city's heart. Glasgow, of course, is not short of gallery spaces, but surely someone, within or outwith the council, can figure out a long-term, sustainable, even profitable future for these fine and historic facilities.

The last major show held there before the RGI, for the temporarily displaced treasures of the Kelvingrove, was between 2003 and 2006 and since then, frankly, the council seems to have lost interest in using them.

These purpose built, B-listed galleries were built in 1856 and were in use for 150 years. Their founder was one of those businessmen who gave so much to Glasgow in its history, the coachbuilder, councillor and patron of the arts, Archibald McLellan. Its marble stairwell and fine interiors look resplendent right now, full of life rather than cold, empty and abandoned, and hung with the art that should, it seems to me, always be there. The current show ends on December 8.

Glasgow Life, the arms-length body which runs the museums and galleries of Glasgow, does not run the McLellan, and one officer there said it has neither the capacity or resources to take them on. A feasibility study, I am told, will be carried out soon, by officers from City Property, and perhaps that will provide a series of options for the galleries' future.

If the council does not want the venue, perhaps it could sell it to someone, or a body, which does.

With the Burrell Collection closing between 2016 and 2020, one could imagine some of that collection's treasures being put on show in Sauchiehall Street. Or perhaps the galleries, and the many other rooms and facilities with them, could be provided to working artists, designers, architects, crafts makers and other creative people as a display area and even working studios.

One member of the RGI said it could even try and wash its financial face as a ballroom, wedding and reception venue. Set up free wifi and a cafe, and the council might be surprised how many creative businesses and arts students, wandering down from Garnethill, might fall in love with the currently officially unloved venue.

Kirsty Wark, the broadcaster, recently said Glaswegians not only love art, but the "places for art". There is a great deal of affection for, and frustration about, the McLellan Galleries. Its mothballing is a shame for the city that professes to value culture so much.