A RECORD number of visitors have flocked to museums in Glasgow in the past year, with nearly four million attendances.
The city's nine civic museums include the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and the Riverside Museum, which both had more than one million visitors through their doors.
The figures, which were compiled by Glasgow Life, also showed that residents attended libraries, gyms and pools as well as special events or attractions run by the organisation on more than 18 million occasions in the past year.
Highlights included theWorld Gymnastics Championships and the hosting of the Turner Prize 2015 at the Tramway, which attracted more than 90,000 attendances at the exhibition and associated events.
However, Glasgow Life also includes libraries and sports facilities, such as swimming pools and gyms.
The overall number of attendances – some 18 million – was up by one-third over the past decade, according to the figures.
There were some 6.2 million attendances across city sports facilities and Glasgow Life delivered 320 adult learning programmes, helping change the lives of more than 3,700 adults.
Councillor Archie Graham OBE, the chairman of Glasgow Life, said: “The last year has been outstanding for Glasgow.
"From hosting major international sporting events, to improving the lives of the people we serve, Glasgow Life has been critical to the success of our great city on a local and international stage.
“The sheer scale of what we do is phenomenal – from raising the roof when Great Britain won two Davis Cup ties at the Emirates Arena, to the life-changing support we give to people to help them simply to read and write, the difference we make is simply inspirational.
“The people of Glasgow love their museums, libraries, community and sports facilities and we are responding by ensuring that they have every opportunity to get involved, see and do more – and given the fact that we have seen more than 18 million attendances in the last year, their response is incredible.
“We are continuing to invest in our community and cultural assets, continuing to work on major events that shine a welcome and positive light on the city and thanks to our dedicated staff and army of volunteers, continuing to ensure that the people of Glasgow can get so much more out of life.”
This figures come after it was announced that £8 million has been approved for improvements to the Kelvin Hall, in particular roofing works and other improvements, as well as plans for a full refurbishment and redisplay of the Burrell Collection.
Glasgow Life also announced Glasgow University Principal Anton Muscatelli and Glasgow Airport chief executive Amanda McMillan have been appointed as independent directors on its board.
Mr Muscatelli said: "Working in partnership with many bodies, including my own university, Glasgow Life has a mission to provide world-class facilities not just for the people of Glasgow but for visitors and tourists from both home and abroad.
"We see this in many different areas from culture to sport, including the imaginative redevelopment of the Kelvin Hall, one of the most iconic structures in the city, which will reopen later this year."
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