Build something for visitors if we win City of Culture bid

Celebrate becoming a city of culture by building something that will get visiors flocking to the city.

Sunderland will discover on Thursday night if it has been successful in its bid to be named UK City of Culture for 2021.

We’re fighting it out with Coventry, Stoke, Paisley and Swansea for the award, with the winning city set to be revealed live on BBC’s The One Show, being broadcast from Hull, which currently holds the title.

And if Sunderland is successful, you know just how the city should mark the award.

One of the questions in our Big City Survey was: If Sunderland is selected as City of Culture 2021, which of the following would you most like to see built in the city?

And by far and away your top answer – with 34.6% of the vote – was a major visitor attraction.

That was followed by an indoor music arena (22.5%) and a mining/shipping heritage centre (20.7%).

You gave an overwhelming thumbs-down to the idea of marking being named City of Culture by creating a public sculpture. Only 0.8% of you thought that was a good idea, while only 2.7% of survey respondents were interested in having a dedicated art gallery.

City of Culture judges visited Sunderland last month, and today Wearsiders are being urged to back the bid by showing their support on social media.

People are being urged to Tweet using the #Sunderland2021 and tag in @Sunderland2021 and @DCMS when they post pictures and share their views on why they love their home city so much.