News story

£15.9 million for museum redevelopment

Heritage Lottery Fund announces latest awards for the sector.

From:
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and Ed Vaizey
Published
26 July 2012
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Four museums will receive a slice of £15.9 million funding for major redevelopment projects.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) today announced the grants, as well as a group of projects that have received initial support for their bids for funding.

“This is a momentous year: huge numbers of tourists will be coming to these shores and our world-class museums continue to be a particularly popular draw,” HLF Chief Executive Carole Souter said. “As the largest source of funding for capital investment in museums and galleries, HLF is ensuring that museums large and small from across the UK continue to attract record numbers by providing people with inspiring and high quality experiences.”

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said he was “delighted” the investment would benefit a wide variety of museums. “Our museums are amongst the finest in the world and the HLF’s support of our dynamic cultural sector plays an important role in helping our arts bodies thrive, flourish and maintain their first-class reputations,” the minister added.

The museums are:

  • Imperial War Museum, London, which will receive £4.5 million for its First World War Centenary Project
  • Tank Museum, Dorset, which will receive £2.5 million for a new Vehicle Conservation Centre
  • V&A Museum, London, which will receive £4.3 million to redevelop its Europe 1600 - 1800 collections
  • Design Museum, London, which will receive £4.65 million to move to its new home at the landmark Commonwealth Institute in Kensington

HLF also confirmed today that Castle Drogo, in Devon, will receive a grant of £2.5 million for vital repairs and to help bring the castle back into use as a flexible community space.

Initial support for HLF bids has been awarded to:

  • Norton Priory, Runcorn, Cheshire
  • Chatham Historic Dockyard, Kent
  • Gunnersbury Park Museum, Ealing, London
  • National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh

Earlier this week, the HLF announced 13 landscape conservation projects which are in line to receive £20 million of funding.

Further information

Published 26 July 2012