British Music Experience to relocate to Liverpool
Operator sought to run music memorabilia museum
The British Music Experience (BME) will reopen in Liverpool’s Cunard Building next Easter.
The museum of contemporary British music memorabilia was housed at the O2 Centre in London from 2009 to 2014, but closed after its funding arrangement with AEG, which owns the building, came to an end.
The museum’s relocation to the former passenger hall on Liverpool’s waterfront is being partially funded by a £2.6m Regional Growth Fund grant.
Liverpool City Council will rent the building to the BME and is also leading the procurement process to find an operator to run it. A spokeswoman for the council said a tender will be advertised on the Chest, the North West’s procurement portal for local authorities, “imminently”.
The museum is expected to create about 35 jobs in the city.
“Music is inherent in Liverpool and is entwined with the city’s history, present and future,” said Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool. “Undoubtedly the BME will be hugely popular as music is a major cultural driving force in the city and I look forward to seeing the project taking shape over the forthcoming months.”
The BME is a registered not-for-profit charity and is managed by an independent board of trustees chaired by the music promoter and founder of the museum, Harvey Goldsmith. The admission price for the museum will be decided in the forthcoming months.
In a statement, the BME said the museum would continue to take an interactive approach to telling the story of British music, and will feature a music studio, a dance booth and virtual record collections.
The museum’s collection of more than 600 music heritage archive items includes some of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust costumes and the original handwritten lyrics to Blue Monday by New Order.
The Cunard Building is one of Liverpool’s Three Graces, alongside the neighbouring Royal Liver Building and Port of Liverpool Building.
The museum of contemporary British music memorabilia was housed at the O2 Centre in London from 2009 to 2014, but closed after its funding arrangement with AEG, which owns the building, came to an end.
The museum’s relocation to the former passenger hall on Liverpool’s waterfront is being partially funded by a £2.6m Regional Growth Fund grant.
Liverpool City Council will rent the building to the BME and is also leading the procurement process to find an operator to run it. A spokeswoman for the council said a tender will be advertised on the Chest, the North West’s procurement portal for local authorities, “imminently”.
The museum is expected to create about 35 jobs in the city.
“Music is inherent in Liverpool and is entwined with the city’s history, present and future,” said Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool. “Undoubtedly the BME will be hugely popular as music is a major cultural driving force in the city and I look forward to seeing the project taking shape over the forthcoming months.”
The BME is a registered not-for-profit charity and is managed by an independent board of trustees chaired by the music promoter and founder of the museum, Harvey Goldsmith. The admission price for the museum will be decided in the forthcoming months.
In a statement, the BME said the museum would continue to take an interactive approach to telling the story of British music, and will feature a music studio, a dance booth and virtual record collections.
The museum’s collection of more than 600 music heritage archive items includes some of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust costumes and the original handwritten lyrics to Blue Monday by New Order.
The Cunard Building is one of Liverpool’s Three Graces, alongside the neighbouring Royal Liver Building and Port of Liverpool Building.