Several major new museum projects are at risk following the government’s decision to scrap the nine English regional development agencies (RDAs).
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), which has had its budget cut by £52m this year, issued a statement saying that “all uncommitted projects will not receive NWDA funding in 2010-11”.
The move means that the National Football Museum, which is to relocate from Preston to the former Urbis site in Manchester, will not receive the £2m grant under consideration by the NWDA.
Fran Toms, head of strategic cultural projects at Manchester City Council, which applied for the football museum funding, insisted that the project was still on schedule to open in late 2011.
Plans for a Titanic gallery at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, a National Museums Liverpool project scheduled to open in 2012, have also been scaled down following news that it will not receive £500,000 that it had bid for from the NWDA.
“We are still committed to doing something substantial in April 2012 to commemorate the Titanic story,” said a spokesman for National Museums Liverpool.
Meanwhile, the abolition of the Yorkshire Forward regional development agency is a blow for the National Railway Museum (NRM), which applied to the body for a £5m grant towards its £21m Great Hall redevelopment project in York.
“We are speaking to several potential funders from the public and private sectors,” said an NRM spokeswoman.
“We are confident that the withdrawal of the Yorkshire Forward funding will have no major impact on the project, assuming other government sourced project income streams are preserved.”
She added that even with impending cuts, the museum was still hopeful of support for the project from the department for culture. A £1bn Regional Growth Fund, which will distribute grants through Local Enterprise Partnerships, is set to replace the regional development agencies.
Image: National Railway Museum, which sought £5m from Yorkshire Forward towards the revamp of its Great Hall
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), which has had its budget cut by £52m this year, issued a statement saying that “all uncommitted projects will not receive NWDA funding in 2010-11”.
The move means that the National Football Museum, which is to relocate from Preston to the former Urbis site in Manchester, will not receive the £2m grant under consideration by the NWDA.
Fran Toms, head of strategic cultural projects at Manchester City Council, which applied for the football museum funding, insisted that the project was still on schedule to open in late 2011.
Plans for a Titanic gallery at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, a National Museums Liverpool project scheduled to open in 2012, have also been scaled down following news that it will not receive £500,000 that it had bid for from the NWDA.
“We are still committed to doing something substantial in April 2012 to commemorate the Titanic story,” said a spokesman for National Museums Liverpool.
Meanwhile, the abolition of the Yorkshire Forward regional development agency is a blow for the National Railway Museum (NRM), which applied to the body for a £5m grant towards its £21m Great Hall redevelopment project in York.
“We are speaking to several potential funders from the public and private sectors,” said an NRM spokeswoman.
“We are confident that the withdrawal of the Yorkshire Forward funding will have no major impact on the project, assuming other government sourced project income streams are preserved.”
She added that even with impending cuts, the museum was still hopeful of support for the project from the department for culture. A £1bn Regional Growth Fund, which will distribute grants through Local Enterprise Partnerships, is set to replace the regional development agencies.
Image: National Railway Museum, which sought £5m from Yorkshire Forward towards the revamp of its Great Hall