South and East Ayrshire Councils are sitting on an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of artworks and other cultural assets estimated to be worth more than £68m, The Post can reveal.
Figures show East Ayrshire Council is sitting on £65,256,000 worth of heritage assets- the 4th most valuable collection of all local authorities in the UK.
And South Ayrshire Council boasts a collection worth £3,141,300.
But the TaxPayers’ Alliance claim that the majority of local authorities display less than a third of the assets they own.
A spokesperson for South Ayrshire Council said: “We’re very proud of our art and museum collection in South Ayrshire and we are actively working to improve access for the public.
"To help achieve this, we have been delivering free guided tours of our Collection Store and paintings.
"At Rozelle House, we have increased the number of artefacts on display from the Tam O’Shanter collection to 96 and we recently held an exhibition of the Council’s top 22 treasures.
“We also held a digital showcase of these treasures at the Grain Exchange on Ayr High Street and our Art History collection database has been shared with students from Ayrshire College for use as part of their research and assignments.
“We have renovated a room at the McKechnie Institute, in Girvan, where people can request to view items from our collection that are stored in the building and we have added 17 paintings from the Burgh of Girvan collection.
“We are also currently working on a programme for a new Heritage Museum in Ayr Town Hall that celebrates the history of the town.
“This will offer a rolling programme of exhibitions, many of which will include our items from our collection.
“This will give more people the chance to experience and enjoy the many historical and cultural treasures that we have here in South Ayrshire.”
Darwin Friend, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “There are instances where councils have been donated art or are forbidden from selling, but surely town hall leaders ought to be making the most of what they have by putting as much on display as practically possible?”
A spokesperson for East Ayrshire Leisure said: “The £65m that is quoted accounts for all of our cultural and heritage assets, not artworks alone. We display our collections on rotation and through public exhibitions.
“Our collections represent the shared history and culture of our communities and wider society and bring them to life through our dynamic exhibitions and displays.
“We do not count the number of objects we have on display but are committed to sharing them with the public through our www.futuremuseum.co.uk website, by public appointment and through our display and exhibition programme.
“We are currently working on a £5m development of Dean Castle which will include essential stonework restoration to the exterior of the castle buildings as well as internal modernisation and redisplay of the Castle’s world class museum collections and exhibition areas.
“The redevelopment of the castle interior (due to open late 2021) will provide access to areas which are not currently available to the public.
“In addition, our local history museum at the Dick Institute will open following an exciting revamp of our display space."
