Paisley’s bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021 has advanced with a £56.7m revamp of the town’s museum given the green light by councillors.
The plans hope to turn the existing Paisley Museum into an "international-class destination" based on the town’s textile history.
Renfrewshire Council has approved a series of funding measures, including £15m towards the museum revamp.
An application for a further £15m is to be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund.
A two-year sponsorship deal with St Mirren will see the local football club change the name of their stadium to support the bid.
A further £3.7m will be spent to fit-out a new publicly-accessible museum store in a vacant unit on the town’s High Street.
A £500,000 "culture, heritage and event fund" will be established to "support the local creative community and tap into the town’s cultural potential."
Another £2.7m has earmarked to support the potential development of a new library in the town centre.
Paisley’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021 was publicly launched last week with an event in Paisley Abbey.
Consultants believe the project would triple visitor numbers to 150,000 per year, creating almost 250 jobs and generating £89m for the local economy.
The new museum store – due to open in 2017 in the basement of the former Littlewoods store on Paisley High Street – will make items not on display at the main museum available for the public to see.
Renfrewshire Council leader, Mark Macmillan, said: “This is a hugely significant day for Paisley and Renfrewshire – the measures approved by councillors will take the ongoing rebirth of Paisley town centre to an entirely new level.
“Through careful management of our own resources, the council has been able to set aside funds which will go a long way towards transforming the town into a thriving destination for heritage and cultural tourism and business.
“Of course the museum project doesn’t depend on winning UK City of Culture 2021 – we will deliver on our regeneration plans if we win or not, albeit the title would turbocharge that process.
“One of the key aims of the bid is to build confidence and pride in everything Paisley has to offer – this town’s contribution to the world has been absolutely massive and I don’t want anybody to be shy in shouting about it.
“The fantastic reaction we have had to last week’s launch of the UK City of Culture 2021 bid from the local community and beyond shows people see that.”
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