Carnegie fortune to help pay for new Edinburgh concert hall
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The venue, which is expected create more than 300 jobs, is already being ked to the tune at at least £35 million by the Dunard Fund, a charity set up by American philanthropist Carol Colburn Grigor.
The new backing has been confirmed weeks after Ms Grigor, one of the biggest private financial backers of Scottish culture in modern times, was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.
Previous winners of the honour, which is award on behalf of Carnegie trusts and foundations around the world, including Dolly Parton, Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates and the Scottish businessman Sir Tom Hunter.
Born in Dunfermline in 1835, Andrew Carnegie emigrated to Pennsylvania with his family at the age of 12, built a multi-million dollar business empire in the steel industry and was one of the world's richest men by the end of the century.
However he famously gave away most of his fortune via trusts and institutions set up in his name, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which he established in 1911 and is now led by a former principal of St Andrews University, Louise Richardson.
The Dunard Centre, which has attracted more than £80 million in private donations to date, is also being supported by the Scottish and UK governments, and Edinburgh City Council, who are contributing £25m in total.
Dunard Centre chief executive Jo Buckley 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.'
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