Hastings' new £4m Jerwood Gallery, which will enable the Jerwood Foundation to display its collection of contemporary British paintings, will open to the public on 17 March 2012.

Designed by Colchester-based HAT Projects, the new contemporary art attraction is to form part of a wider £9m redevelopment of the East Sussex resort's Stade area in the Old Town.

Capital and running costs for the Jerwood Gallery will be entirely funded by the foundation, and it is expected the building will act as an "important catalyst" in the town's regeneration.

The gallery will incorporate more than 500sq m (5,382sq ft) of exhibition space, including a 180sq m (1,938sq ft) space for temporary programmes, as well as a sculpture courtyard.

Jerwood Foundation chair Alan Grieve said: "This is the culmination of the initiative to make a new home for Jerwood's collection of 20th and 21st century art and place it in the public domain for the first time.

"Hastings is linked with a number of artists featured in the collection. With its rich history and strong, ever-expanding artistic community we felt that Hastings was the perfect location for the gallery."

Details: www.jerwoodgallery.org