Museum arts centre construction to start next year

23 December 2008 -

Construction work on the £18.8 million museum arts centre in Belfast, which is likely to be one of the biggest attractions in Northern Ireland, will begin next April.

Included in the six-storey development are two theatres and 1,000 sq m of exhibition space.

The project is to be the focal element of the Cathedral Quarter when it opens at St Anne's Square in 2011.

Joris Minne, chairman of Bowen Mascott JV Co, which won the contract to develop the site, said the scheme will be beneficial to the city.

"It will have a major regenerative impact on Belfast by bringing 1,000 people into the city centre every night. It will be Belfast's version of London's Barbican or Gateshead's Sage Centre," he said.

Another scheme earmarked for Belfast is the Titanic Signature Project, which Una Reilly, treasurer of the BelfastTitanic Society, says will become an iconic attraction in the city.