'Blue Shed' Gallery Abandoned

A bid to turn a former factory in Leith into a gallery to house a £100 million art collection has been shelved amid fears the project is too ambitious. The former VA Tech building - dubbed "the big blue shed" by critics - had been earmarked as Scotland's answer to the Tate Modern, in London, or Bilbao's Guggenheim art museum. But, despite the initial enthusiasm of First Minister Jack McConnell, it is understood the idea has been dropped in favour of extending the existing National Gallery of Modern Art. One senior source today described the plan as "dead in the water". Irish Art