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The
idea is part of a £35m scheme to convert the historic library,
which possesses 90 million archives on Liverpool's history, into
a space age World Discovery Centre for European Capital of Culture,
2008.
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| Future
plans (detail) |
Consultant
architects Gaunt Francis want visitors to be able to walk directly
between Liverpool Museum - which is undergoing a £30m refurbishment,
the Central Library and the Walker art gallery, without having to
go outside.
The
move would create one of the largest multi-purpose cultural centres
in the UK, containing:
- 10,000
works of art on show at any one time
- 31,000
sqm of exhibition space
- 7
miles of archives
The
plans, now on show as part of a five-month public consultation at
the library, also propose to demolish five floors in the Central
Library, which were re-built after a direct hit in the 1941 blitz.
This would create a:
- New
entrance
- Visitor
centre with cafe
- 18,000
sqm gallery - increasing capacity to exhibit rare artefacts
- Space
for 500 public access computer - double the present number
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| Future
plans (detail) |
Once
completed, the Discovery Centre will become one of the key buildings
in the city's nominated World Heritage site, with customer numbers
expected to rise from 600,000 to 1 million a year.
Council
leader Mike Storey said: ''This plan would create a unique triumvate
of world class attractions - a cultural treble to equal anything
achieved on a football field."
The
Department of Culture, Media and Sport agreed a £15m application
for a PFI grant to carry out the redesign.
The
city council is now preparing to make a bid to the Heritage Lottery
Fund.
As
part of the scheme the city council's award winning Library and
Information Services will also digitise the 90 million archives
held in Liverpool Record Office, to create the world's first on-line
centre for tracing family roots.
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| The
Walker Art Gallery today |
Every
item of the city's documented heritage from birth certificates,
parish records and details of people who emigrated from the city,
would be available on the Internet by 2007.
The
centre would also be electronically linked to the Ellis Island emigration
archives in New York, allowing descendants of millions of immigrants
to trace their ancestry by the click of a mouse.
The
£35m scheme would make the city a world centre for genealogy,
allowing virtual visitors from all over the globe to trace their
roots.
Plans
will be on public display at the Central library from Monday December
15th until April 2004. The public can also express their views on
the city council's website by visiting www.liverpool.gov.uk.
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