IT seems Southampton’s search for the “wow factor” is a bit like waiting for a bus – you wait ages for one, only for two to arrive at the same time.

After years of unanswered calls for a major tourist attraction, Southampton could soon boast two heritage centres celebrating the city’s rich history.

As revealed by the Daily Echo yesterday, below, plans have been announced for a multi-million pound museum and visitor centre in the heart of the docks.

Tourism chiefs last night welcomed the ambitious waterfront development and said opening the docks to the public would draw visitors from across the country.

The attraction, named AeroNautica, will replace Solent Sky Museum within five years and also be a home for historic ships, such as the 95-year-old Calshot Spit lightship.

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The plans were yesterday unveiled at Trafalgar Dock, where the new aircraft museum will rise up next to Ocean Terminal, with a fundraising drive soon to be launched.

It comes just a few months after Southampton City Council’s own proposed heritage centre, the £15m Sea City Museum at the Civic Centre, received a £5m lottery grant.

Sea City Museum will feature an exhibition dedicated to the crew of Titanic and is set to open in April 2012, to mark the 100th anniversary of the disaster.

Those behind each scheme denied they were in competition and claimed they would work together to bring more visitors into Southampton.

Solent Sky Museum, near Ocean Village, has seen its visitors numbers drop to just 15,000 a year – less than half the number of 20 years ago.

Curator Alan Jones, the brains behind AeroNautica, said it had suffered from the stalled development of the neighbouring luxury marina.

“The city has been crying out for this for years. The big difference is that this will be a ‘live’ waterfront attraction – people will actually be able to board the ships and aircraft,” he said.

“It will be the first time that the Southampton public will have access to the docks and be within striking distance of the biggest cruise ships in the world.”

Sarah Davis, Hampshire area manager at Tourism South East, added: “It’s a great opportunity. The 300 cruise ships that visit each year are Southampton’s wow factor.

“Until now there has never been an opportunity for people to get close to them.

“This proposal will certainly encourage more people to go to Southampton because we know that people will travel from all over to see these ships.”

“We have so much that we can celebrate in Southampton and pulling it all together like this in one place is an ideal opportunity.”