In the market for a capital museum
Mayor pledges £70m for project at Smithfield
THE capital will get a new Museum of London after Sadiq Khan pledged £70million towards the new project.
It is set to move to the disused part of the market in Smithfield in 2022 and will create 1,700
I’m proud this is the biggest ever cultural investment made by any mayor of London to date”
new jobs the according to museum’s creators .
The City of London in city, the Corporation will donate £110m to the project, with the Mayor using a loan payable over 25 years to fund the rest.
Planning applications are to be drawn up for 2018 and the museum hopes by the time its complete, the attraction will draw in around two million visitors a year.
The City of London Corporation has pledged to give £110 million alongside the Mayor’s contribution
Mr Khan said: “From the outset of my mayoralty, I pledged to make culture a core priority and I’m proud that this is the biggest ever cultural investment made by any mayor of London to date.”
The museum, currently at London Wall near the Barbican, was established in 1976 and tells the story of the city from 450,000BC.
Its collection includes artefacts from remains found at Three Ways Wharf in Uxbridge giving evidence of the last of the Ice Age Hunters who set up camp there.
Museum director Sharon Ament said: “Working with our design team we can now move forward confidently with detailed plans for the new museum and remain firmly on target to open the new museum in 2022.”