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New arts gallery planned for Leicester
A new £2.4m public arts gallery is set to be built on the site of a former nursery in Leicester to replace the existing City Gallery if the proposals are given the green light by the local authority.
Leicester City Council's (LCC) cabinet will decide whether to approve plans for the new building at the council-owned site on New Walk, which have been drawn up by Marsh Grochowski Architects and Focus Consultants UK. The council has already agreed to replace the City Gallery with a new venue in the existing nursery building, but will now be asked to approve the construction of the new building to replace City Gallery, which is due to close when its lease expires in February 2010.
It is expected that the construction of the proposed venue, which is scheduled to open in spring 2011, will be funded mainly by LCC, as well as a £120,000 contribution from Arts Council England. Nick Gordon, managing curator of collections and interpretation at LCC, said: "The architects who have designed the new building have a national reputation for their work on galleries and the arts. They have also ensured that the design of the gallery sits well with the rest of New Walk, but is striking in its own right."