There are new plans that have been revealed for a family history and genealogy visitor centre in Ebbw Vale, Wales. The new centre will cost £12m and will be housed in an extension of the Grade 2 listed General Offices building. It will house the archives of the Gwent Record Office, in a purpose built space. These archives date back to the 1300’s and cover more than 5km of shelve-space, they will be fully searchable by visitors to the centre. The centre will consist of interactive exhibits, 3D technology and a large 5D cinema. The attraction will be funded jointly by grants from the Welsh Assembly’s Heads of Valleys programme and the European Union Regional Development Fund.
Dublin Zoo has revealed that it attracted a record number of visitors in 2008, making it one of the top 3 most visited attractions in the Republic of Ireland. There was an increase of 30,000 visitors compared to 2007, with approximately 932,000 people visiting the zoo.
Southampton City Council (SCC) has unveiled plans for a new attraction commemorating the story of the Titanic disaster, the first stage of a project to establish a heritage centre in the city. An application for funding, from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to contribute to the cost of the £15m Titanic Story scheme has been submitted. The heritage centre will be developed in two stages, stage one including exhibition spaces, learning spaces, catering, retail and reception facilities.
SCC are currently seeking businesses to help deliver the project. It is expected that the first stage of the attraction will be completed by 2012, marking the centenary anniversary of the disaster.
Proposals for a new £10.5m visitor centre at Sherwood Forest have been put forward by Nottingham County Council.
Although the plans are still subject to approval it is expected that the new visitor centre will be ready to open in 2010.
The forest’s existing 32 year old visitor centre currently attracts 400,000 visitors each year, but needs to be relocated following an agreement in 2002 which named Sherwood Forest as a National Nature Reserve.
The new visitor centre is planned to be split into five zones. The centre’s main attraction will be a visitor experience consisting of a 360° film presentation about the forests history. Land for the new centre has already been acquired and it is hoped that the centre will increase visitor numbers by 25%, generating £7.5m for the local economy.
The construction on a new £97m visitor Titanic attraction in Belfast, is due to begin January 2009. The attraction is called ‘Titanic Quarter’ and has been backed by the Stormont Executive, which is investing £43m towards the cost of the development. The attraction will have a permanent Titanic Memorial Museum about the history of the Atlantic liner and the city in which it was built. It is expected to be completed by 2012 and it is hoped that the site will attract up to 400,000 visitors a year.
Plans to convert the Victorian Bestwood Winding Engine House, in Bestwood Country Park, Nottingham, into a visitor attraction has been given the go ahead. The restoration of the Grade 2 listed building will preserve one of the few remaining twin-cylinder, vertical winding steam engines used for English coal mining. It is funded by a £1.1 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £300,000 from the Greater Nottingham Partnership and additional funding from the county council. A nearby electrical sub-station, Dynamo House, will also be restored and the remaining structure will be extended and converted into a visitor centre, with historical exhibition on the Winding House. Construction will be begin in August 2008 and is expected to be completed by summer 2009.
Bristol Zoo have announced plans for a new £70m world wildlife reserve. A 55hectare National Wildlife Conservation Parkwill be situated on the outskirts of the city. It is scheduled to open in 2012 and will be the first conservation-led visitor attraction of its kind in the UK. The park will be divided into individual areas based upon research into regions in the world with high conservation needs. Visitors will be able to view specific areas such as the Indian Ocean Coral Reef, and observe animals in such as brown bears in their natural habitat. The parks development has received a £1.5m grant from the South West of England Regional Development Agency.
One North East reports that Alnwick Garden could give up to £150 million back to the North East over 10 years in economic benefits. Key outcomes of the project include:
680 jobs have been created both directly at Alnwick Gardens and externally through businesses benefiting from the existence of the garden
Alnwick Gardens work with over 40 regional businesses
They have delivered over 250,000 learning opportunities in the last two years.
The BBC reports that plans to house a World War Two U-Boat at the Woodside Ferry Terminal in Merseyside have been given the go ahead. Plans also include providing a visitor exhibition centre at the site.
The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, in Cumbria, has reported a 38% increase in visitors since 2006. The boost in the number of visitors is linked to the continuing promotion of the film ‘Miss Potter’ and events to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of character Jemima Puddle-Duck.
By promoting the Lake District area through the films release, the attraction has said that group visits appear to be extending their normal period of stay from one to two days.
The Beatles Story visitor attraction, in Liverpool, is expanding as it is opening a new interactive area. It will be called the Discovery Zone and will allow visitors to learn about the Beatles’ music and the times they lived in interactively. Activities will include visitors being able to create their own newspaper, select a song to sing at the 1950’s record store and creating their own Beatles inspired artwork. They have also invested in a new audio guide, designed to be more family friendly, in the hope of attracting more children to the attraction.
A record number of people visited the British Museum in London last year to see China’s Terracotta Army exhibition. More than 850,000 people viewed the attraction, the highest attendance figures since the Tutankhamun display in 1972. The overall visitor figures from 2007-8 was 6 million. It was so popular that the museum had to extend its opening hours.
The government has launched a consultation to develop a new Science and Society Strategy. The initiative is designed to promote public engagement on complex scientific issues. The aim of the strategy is to bring together a range of views from the general public, businesses and scientists. The minister for science and innovation has praised the role of the science centre and museums in making science more accessible.
Every year Explore-At-Bristol works with thousands of school children and the local community with the aim of inspiring their visitors about science. Explore-At-Bristol is part of a national network of science centres and museums.
The new wing of London’s Natural History Museum has been unveiled. The Darwin Centre Phase Two is designed around an 8-storey “Cocoonâ€, encased within a glass atrium.
The temperature controlled Cocoon with house 20 million of the museum’s 34 million plant and insect specimens and laboratories for up to 200 researchers. Visitors can watch the researchers in action, when the centre opens in September 2009. It will be the only place in the UK where visitors can interact daily with natural science experts.
The building, costing £78 million, is designed by C F Moller and by HBG Construction. The building will link the Waterhouse building with the existing Darwin Centre Phase One and the museum’s gardens.
There is a new pioneering 70-acre nature reserve that has been established at Bassenthwaite Lake, Lake District. Dubwath Silver Meadows was opened at the end of September and is the first Wetland reserve of its kind in the area.
A new 900m boardwalk made from recycled plastic has been installed, as well as 600m path that will enable visitors to go on a tour of the wetland on a route that will be accessible for all.
The Special Area of Conservation is already home to some of Britain’s most important wildlife.
It is part of the Bassenthwaite Reflections Programme, a HLF scheme, which is a partnership between a number of environmental organisations.
The first phase of construction of the i360 observation tower has begun in Brighton. The project has started later than expected and is now due to open in 2011, rather than 2008.
The tower will be able to transport around 100 guests in an enclosed pod, to 139m (500ft) high. The pod offers seating and will be air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. Each ride will last around 25 minutes.
