A brand new £11 million museum for young ones could be closer to becoming a reality on the Wirral.
Officials from the popular National Children’s Museum, Eureka! have already been in talks to open their second site at the Seacombe Ferry Terminal, with potential new investment available which now may bring the project to life.
With the scheme being backed by Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), plans for the new Eureka! have taken a step forward, after the UK Government launched a £15 million Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund.
Cities across the North can all bid for a share of the cash, with the LEP confirming that it would be bidding £4 million for the Wirral museum development.
YouTube: Eureka Museum
Wirral Council Leader, Councillor Phil Davies, told JMU Journalism: “A successful and innovative attraction like Eureka! would be a welcome addition to the Mersey waterfront, in an area that has suffered from under-investment in cultural funding over the last few years.”
If the bid however is successful, then Mersey Travel and Wirral Council will both contribute funding for the museum, with an aim to open the facility by 2021.
Cllr Davies added: “Working with organisations such as Eureka! is definitely the way forward to promote learning, while inspiring the next generations of scientists and engineers, and supporting the commitment to bring new business to the city region.”
Eureka!, which already has its national base in Halifax, West Yorkshire, was said to be the first interactive educational museum of its kind in the UK, and is run as a charity and not-for-profit organisation.
Operation and Projects Director at Eureka!, Tudor Gwynn, told JMU Journalism: “We’re really excited to finally bring Eureka to Liverpool, its been hugely successful in the 17 years I’ve been here in Halifax and I think that having another museum is great, not just for us but the people in Merseyside also.”