PLANS to turn Paisley Museum into an international attraction will go ahead despite losing out on Lottery cash.

The redevelopment of the visitor attraction is the flagship project in a culture led regeneration scheme aimed at transforming the town over the next decade.

It will showcase Paisley’s story as a textile town which became famous world-wide.

Renfrewshire Council has committed £15million towards the scheme and applied for a further £15m of Lottery money.

The application has been turned down but council leader Mark Macmillian says the scheme will still go ahead.

Today, councillors will be asked to approve a £1.9m contract to fit out the museum store on High Street due to open to the public next year.

Mr Macmillan said: “We had hoped to be announcing positive news regarding the main museum. While we are disappointed not to be successful in this funding round, we remain utterly committed to delivering this project in full as planned.

“This is a long-term project and there is plenty of time yet to realise our ambition – often applications of this kind are not funded at the first attempt but are successful when reapplying.”

The council boss said they would also be looking at other ways of funding the work.

He added: “This is a great project which will put Paisley on the map as a tourist destination, showcase our internationally significant collections and reconnect the town to the world-famous pattern bearing its name.

“Our regeneration plans already have great momentum with Paisley’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021 gathering pace and a publicly accessible museum store and relocated lending library set for the High Street and that work will continue.”

Mr Macmillan said the next step will be to continue speaking to various funding bodies and resubmit the application for Lottery funding.

The museum store project will allow the public access to items currently held in storage in the town.

It will result in the vacant basement of the building which houses the Bargain Buys store being brought back into use.

The council will this week be asked to approve the award of the £1.9m million fit-out to Hillington-based Project Management and Construction.

The company has agreed to deliver a number of jobs, work placements and other community benefits to local people.

Council bosses say the museum redevelopment is expected to result in the number of visitors tripling to 150,000 a year bringing a cash boost to the town centre.