Heritage museum developer named (From Daily Echo)
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Kier Southern to build Southampton's Sea City museum
8:34am Thursday 8th July 2010 in Southampton
How the new Sea City museum will look
BUILDER Kier Southern has been named the “preferred contractor” to build Southampton’s £15m Sea City Museum.
Kier’s appointment brings the ambitious project to showcase the city’s heritage in a landmark building on the side of the Civic Centre “one step closer”.
It has so far survived the swingeing public sector cuts and is still on course for work to start this October with a £4.9m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund in place. The council is to fund the remaining £10m through fundraising and short term borrowing.
More than 150,000 people a year are expected to visit the attraction, which is likely to be renamed, when it opens in April 2012 – the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy.
The old magistrates’ courts and Central police station will also be transformed into two permanent exhibitions, entitled Southampton’s Titanic Story and Gateway to the World.
Kier Southern is the Southampton based arm of the giant Kier Group, which is involved in a series of major local developments. Projects include the new Ordnance Survey headquarters on the outskirts of the city, Harefield School and the Eastpoint Conference and Community Centre and the new Southampton Police Operational Command Unit.
Kier was last year hit with a £17.9m fine by the office of Fair Trading, along with a raft of other major builders, after an investigation found “endemic bid rigging” in tendering for public contracts.
The company will now sign a pre-contract agreement before being finally appointed at a meeting of the Cabinet in August.
Councillor John Hannides, Cabinet member for leisure, culture and heritage, said: “It feels like we are really moving forward with this project, now that Kier will be preparing to start work on the museum. This fabulous museum will draw thousands of visitors to Southampton every year and will create many more jobs for the local economy.”
Comments(20)
StEmmosfire
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9:00am Thu 8 Jul 10
EchoPedia
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9:07am Thu 8 Jul 10
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How have the Council checked that this bid was not rigged?
5outhy
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9:40am Thu 8 Jul 10
non sailor, lymington
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10:04am Thu 8 Jul 10
Linesman
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10:12am Thu 8 Jul 10
When school children are brought to visit the museum, they will no doubt marvel at the modern building and wish that their school, with flaking paintwork, leaking roof, woodwork and crumbling masonry were in the same condition.
OSPREYSAINT
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10:51am Thu 8 Jul 10
ToastyTea
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10:56am Thu 8 Jul 10
so bored of hearing about these so called southampton wow factors that come to nothing
5outhy
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11:27am Thu 8 Jul 10
ToastyTea wrote:Considering they have named a “preferred contractor” i would say this is getting built, dingus.
yawn this will never happen along with all the other projects that get proposed. so bored of hearing about these so called southampton wow factors that come to nothing
housewife
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11:34am Thu 8 Jul 10
THAT WE DO NOT HAVE
WASTE OF MONEY
ON WHAT WE DO NOT WANT
WASTE OF MONEY
BETTER SPENT ON THINGS WE NEED
LIKE
SCHOOLS ROADS HOSPITALS TRANSPORT
stupid, stupid waste of time and resources for something that will most likely not get funded in the end anyway
ToastyTea
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12:33pm Thu 8 Jul 10
5outhy wrote:oh yeh cause they've never had a "PREFFERED CONTRACTOR" for other stuff before and for the project to then fall through have they
ToastyTea wrote: yawn this will never happen along with all the other projects that get proposed. so bored of hearing about these so called southampton wow factors that come to nothingConsidering they have named a “preferred contractor” i would say this is getting built, dingus.
5outhy
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12:42pm Thu 8 Jul 10
ToastyTea wrote:nope, glad you agree
5outhy wrote:oh yeh cause they've never had a "PREFFERED CONTRACTOR" for other stuff before and for the project to then fall through have theyToastyTea wrote: yawn this will never happen along with all the other projects that get proposed. so bored of hearing about these so called southampton wow factors that come to nothingConsidering they have named a “preferred contractor” i would say this is getting built, dingus.
RadicalEmu
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1:17pm Thu 8 Jul 10
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Isn't it ugly?!?
ToastyTea
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1:44pm Thu 8 Jul 10
RadicalEmu wrote:agreed actually
Surely you must all agree that, where it will be a great addition to the city etc.., etc... . Isn't it ugly?!?
horrible grey blocks
lowe esteem
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1:50pm Thu 8 Jul 10
Uncle Chuffnuts
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1:52pm Thu 8 Jul 10
soton1980
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5:27pm Thu 8 Jul 10
RadicalEmu wrote:Very much so! It might of been nice for the council to have run a competition with various designs and allowed residents to vote. This would also have increased local enthusiasm for the museum. But of course we don't have any say in the matter.
Surely you must all agree that, where it will be a great addition to the city etc.., etc...
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Isn't it ugly?!?
Ian24
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6:39pm Thu 8 Jul 10
freemantlegirl2
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8:07am Fri 9 Jul 10
EchoPedia
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11:12am Fri 9 Jul 10
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On Radio Solent last evening Royston Smith stated that the £10M still had to be raised - and he was vague about the start date (later this year) and reminded the audience it needed to be ready by 2012. Well by April 2012 which provides about 18 months.
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That £10M isn't going to materialise so I think we can safely assume this new build will not materialise either.
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Smith did keeping mentioning the recycling of the existing space vacated by the Police etc.
joenice says...
8:53am Thu 8 Jul 10