A new Museum of Liverpool is on the cards again after the North West Development Agency (NWDA) announced £2.5m funding last month.
The funding will cover project development costs.
Although the money must be matched by funding from Objective One of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a seven-strong team from National Museums Liverpool is already working on the plans for the £65m waterfront museum, and a shortlist of architects has been drawn up.
Janet Dugdale, the keeper of the Museum of Liverpool Life, has responsibility for the concept and content of the new museum. She told Museums Journal that the concept team was working on a programme of changing exhibitions that would tell the story of Liverpool using key objects.
'We want it to be an exciting and responsive place. We want visitors to see something new every time they come.' She said the display would not be chronological but would be themed around significant moments in Liverpool's history.
As part of the plan, the Museum of Liverpool Life will close and the building will be used as an administration and support centre for National Museums Liverpool. The Merseyside Maritime Museum will continue to tell the story of the sea, although Dugdale said there were long-term plans to redevelop it.
The on-again, off-again project to build a new museum had suffered a set-back in July when the ambitious Cloud building was cancelled. The £324m scheme, designed by Will Alsop, was a public-private partnership that would have incorporated space for a new museum and residential properties.
The new Museum of Liverpool is a purely public sector project. According to Dugdale, the rough breakdown of where the £65m will come from is: £32.7m from the NWDA; £15m from the ERDF; £11m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £7m from fundraising.
There were fears that after the collapse of the Cloud, any new project would not be completed in time for Liverpool to host the European Capital of Culture in 2008. Although Dugdale couldn't confirm that the new project would meet that deadline, she said that the timetable was to start on site by 2006 and to have 'something significant' in place by 2008. An architect will be chosen this month and the proposal will be decided on by May 2005.
The concept team is working with consultant Ken Gorby who played an instrumental role in the creation of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and Te Papa in New Zealand.
The refurbished Liverpool Museum, renamed the World Museum Liverpool, will reopen in April 2005. The £35m project will double the size of the museum and will include a World Cultures Gallery, an aquarium and a theatre for performances linked to the collections.
Sharon Heal
The funding will cover project development costs.
Although the money must be matched by funding from Objective One of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a seven-strong team from National Museums Liverpool is already working on the plans for the £65m waterfront museum, and a shortlist of architects has been drawn up.
Janet Dugdale, the keeper of the Museum of Liverpool Life, has responsibility for the concept and content of the new museum. She told Museums Journal that the concept team was working on a programme of changing exhibitions that would tell the story of Liverpool using key objects.
'We want it to be an exciting and responsive place. We want visitors to see something new every time they come.' She said the display would not be chronological but would be themed around significant moments in Liverpool's history.
As part of the plan, the Museum of Liverpool Life will close and the building will be used as an administration and support centre for National Museums Liverpool. The Merseyside Maritime Museum will continue to tell the story of the sea, although Dugdale said there were long-term plans to redevelop it.
The on-again, off-again project to build a new museum had suffered a set-back in July when the ambitious Cloud building was cancelled. The £324m scheme, designed by Will Alsop, was a public-private partnership that would have incorporated space for a new museum and residential properties.
The new Museum of Liverpool is a purely public sector project. According to Dugdale, the rough breakdown of where the £65m will come from is: £32.7m from the NWDA; £15m from the ERDF; £11m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £7m from fundraising.
There were fears that after the collapse of the Cloud, any new project would not be completed in time for Liverpool to host the European Capital of Culture in 2008. Although Dugdale couldn't confirm that the new project would meet that deadline, she said that the timetable was to start on site by 2006 and to have 'something significant' in place by 2008. An architect will be chosen this month and the proposal will be decided on by May 2005.
The concept team is working with consultant Ken Gorby who played an instrumental role in the creation of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and Te Papa in New Zealand.
The refurbished Liverpool Museum, renamed the World Museum Liverpool, will reopen in April 2005. The £35m project will double the size of the museum and will include a World Cultures Gallery, an aquarium and a theatre for performances linked to the collections.
Sharon Heal