ERDF helps cover cost of new galleries

A grant of £3.4m has been awarded towards the £12m fit-out of four exhibition spaces at the new Museum of Liverpool.

The investment from the European Regional Development Fund will 'enable the museum to explore the extraordinary and complex story of Liverpool within the context of the wider region as well as the big national and international themes that have shaped this and other British cities'.

The museum will focus on four main themes: Port City, Creative City, People's City and Global City. The Museum of Liverpool is due to open next year on the waterfront. The construction of the building has already received £5m from ERDF.

Cllr Flo Clucas, member of the Northwest ERDF Programme Monitoring Committee, said: "The new museum of Liverpool is architecturally striking and will be one of the region's flagship cultural attractions. This investment will ensure that the museum is able to deliver a world-class visitor experience that will set it, and the Northwest, apart from our competitors."

David Fleming, director of National Museums Liverpool, said: "The museum already looks spectacular from the outside. Now we are planning to make the inside breathtaking too. We are delighted to receive this funding, which will go towards the internal fit-out.

"There will be 8,000 square metres of public space across three floors and visitors will have access to more than 6000 objects. In each of the four massive galleries visitors will be able explore and immerse themselves in every aspect of Liverpool life.

"We want to attract more than 750,000 visitors a year and give the city a museum to be proud of."

The £72m Museum of Liverpool is the largest newly-built national museum in Britain for over a century.