Eureka’s £11m museum secures Government funding

Eureka will aim to open its second site in the UK at Spaceport next to Seacombe Ferry Terminal in 2021 after securing a £3m funding package from the Government.

Designed as a sister site for the children’s museum’s base in Halifax, the £11m project will provide an interactive museum targeted at seven to 14-year-olds, and is expected to create 28 full-time and 91 indirect jobs.

It will be based in an expansion of the existing Spaceport tourist attraction, which first opened in 2005 and features galleries, exhibitions, and an observatory. The Seacombe Terminal is linked via ferry to Liverpool’s waterfront.

The latest round of funding from the Government, as part of the £13m Inspiring Science Fund, brings the museum closer to a 2021 opening. Other funding sources, including Wirral Council and Merseytravel, have already been confirmed

The new museum previously lost out on Government funding from the £15m Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund in March this year, which saw projects in Blackpool and Windermere secure backing.

The Inspiring Science Fund covers six regional science centres across the UK, two of which are in the North West.

Alongside Eureka Mersey, the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre in Widnes has also received funding, securing £754,600. The museum, which focuses on science and technology in the chemical industry, is aimed at children and features interactive and multi-media exhibits. It is based off Mersey Road off the A533.

Eureka’s funding award was the joint-highest of the six projects to secure backing through the fund, along with Cardiff-based Techniquest, which also bagged £3m.

The other projects to win funding were the National Space Centre in Leicester, which was granted £1.9m; Dundee Science Centre, which secured £1.5m; and Glasgow Science Centre, which won £2.9m.

The Inspiring Science Fund is co-funded by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, and Wellcome. Later this year, UK Research and Innovation will succeed BEIS as co-funder.

Science Minister Sam Gyimah said: “We want to bring the wonders of science to as wide an audience as possible and that’s why it is at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy. Today’s investment in the North West will help inspire people to learn about the truly amazing benefits that science and technology has on all our lives.”