Staff working on the National Museum of Science and Industry's (NMSI) Inspired project were stunned by the BIG Lottery Fund's decision to eliminate it from the final round of the People's Millions scheme, according to a source close to the museum.
The attraction in Wroughton, Wiltshire, was one of five competing for a grant of up to £50m, with the public deciding the eventual winner in a televised vote on ITV as Museums Journal went to press.
But it was dropped because of the programme committee's "concerns about design, project costs and the overall business case".
A source said: "None of these issues were brought up in the past six months. The Science Museum was working closely with the BIG Lottery Fund and had received no negative feedback at all. Then it was dropped by the panel."
A spokesman for the BIG Lottery Fund said: "Obviously, it was a good application, so it would have received positive feedback. At the end of the day, it was just beaten by a better bid."
The fund has offered to give the museum full feedback on the application, including copies of the reports compiled by the programme committee, and a meeting with the programme manager in January.
The cost of the project is £64m and it would have housed most of the museum's 250,000 artefacts, which are in storage at the redeveloped site. They include original design models for Concorde and a steam cabinet commissioned for Buckingham Palace by George V. Inspired was due to open in 2010.
The Science Museum's director, Chris Rapley, said the museum would explore ways to make the collections available to the public "in spite of the setback". It is expected to make a statement about the future of the project later this month.
The loss of the Inspired project met strong reactions on the People's Millions website forum. Under the title, "the best project has lost already", users said they were "appalled" and "amazed" at the committee's decision, which one called "a disgrace".
Nick Winterbotham, the chief executive of Thinktank in Birmingham, where a redevelopment project at Eastside City Park was deselected by the programme committee earlier this year, said: "It is difficult to escape the suspicion that the scheme is a sop to those ineligible for lottery funding. It just highlights how much isn't going to the regions."
The four remaining projects in People's Millions are Sustrans' Connect2 plan to create walking and cycle routes across the UK; new developments at the Eden Project and Sherwood Forest; and an urban park in the Black Country.
The attraction in Wroughton, Wiltshire, was one of five competing for a grant of up to £50m, with the public deciding the eventual winner in a televised vote on ITV as Museums Journal went to press.
But it was dropped because of the programme committee's "concerns about design, project costs and the overall business case".
A source said: "None of these issues were brought up in the past six months. The Science Museum was working closely with the BIG Lottery Fund and had received no negative feedback at all. Then it was dropped by the panel."
A spokesman for the BIG Lottery Fund said: "Obviously, it was a good application, so it would have received positive feedback. At the end of the day, it was just beaten by a better bid."
The fund has offered to give the museum full feedback on the application, including copies of the reports compiled by the programme committee, and a meeting with the programme manager in January.
The cost of the project is £64m and it would have housed most of the museum's 250,000 artefacts, which are in storage at the redeveloped site. They include original design models for Concorde and a steam cabinet commissioned for Buckingham Palace by George V. Inspired was due to open in 2010.
The Science Museum's director, Chris Rapley, said the museum would explore ways to make the collections available to the public "in spite of the setback". It is expected to make a statement about the future of the project later this month.
The loss of the Inspired project met strong reactions on the People's Millions website forum. Under the title, "the best project has lost already", users said they were "appalled" and "amazed" at the committee's decision, which one called "a disgrace".
Nick Winterbotham, the chief executive of Thinktank in Birmingham, where a redevelopment project at Eastside City Park was deselected by the programme committee earlier this year, said: "It is difficult to escape the suspicion that the scheme is a sop to those ineligible for lottery funding. It just highlights how much isn't going to the regions."
The four remaining projects in People's Millions are Sustrans' Connect2 plan to create walking and cycle routes across the UK; new developments at the Eden Project and Sherwood Forest; and an urban park in the Black Country.
