Edinburgh's new concert hall handed million dollar grant by Andrew Carnegie foundation
Edinburgh’s first purpose-built new concert hall for more than a century is to benefit from the fortune left by Scottish industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
His philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York has made a $1 million grant - £735,000 - towards the Dunard Centre, which is set to be built on the recently cleared site behind the historic Royal Bank of Scotland building in St Andrew Square.
The news comes as a new report projects the 1,000-seater venue will generate £170 million in gross value added in first 20 years and boost tourism spending by £8.6m each year. Work is due to start this summer and the new venue is expected to open in 2029.
The Dunard Centre - expected to cost at least £115 million - will provide a permanent home for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a new venue for the Edinburgh International Festival.
The Carnegie foundation, which is led by Dame Louise Richardson, former principal and vice-chancellor of St Andrews University, was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911, to manage the bulk of his philanthropic giving.
He wanted it to “promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding”. It is backed by an endowment valued at around $4.5 billion and between 2023 and 2024, it awarded grants totalling $174 million.
Jo Buckley, chief executive of the Dunard Centre, said: “We are hugely grateful for this grant, which recognises both the global significance of the Dunard Centre and the role it will play in enriching the lives of local people, by giving them greater access to the arts.
“The money will help us develop and advance our engagement strategy, which is a vital element of our mission to create a ‘Hall for All’ here in Edinburgh.
“With a focus on supporting civic participation and socioeconomic mobility, we intend to build trusted relationships, design thoughtful creative engagement programmes, and establish the team that will bring this work to life when we open our doors in 2029.
“We look forward to the opportunity of exploring and sharing the parallels between the transformational philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie – and the mark this left upon the world –and the various ways civic society benefits from the provision of outstanding performance and lifelong engagement with music.”
The centre is named after the Dunard Fund, an arts charity established by philanthropist Carol Colburn Grigor, which has contributed £35m toward the project. In total, the new concert hall has attracted record private donations of £80m. And it is backed by £25 million of public investment through Edinburgh’s City Region Deal.