ONE of Hampshire's top attractions has received a £200,000 grant towards the cost of transforming the entrance and part of the main exhibition area.
The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu has been awarded the money by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and The Wolfson Foundation.
The grant, coupled with match funding by the National Motor Museum Trust, will pave the way for major improvements to the building.
As reported in the Daily Echo, museum bosses have drawn up long-term plans to spend about £20m on modernising the award-winning attraction.
Welcoming the £200,000 cash boost the chairman of the Trust, Jon Murden, said: "This is exciting news and I am glad we are on our way to a bright new future for the museum.
"This major grant will enable us to start the first phase of our planned works next year.
"It is the first step on a long road, with bold plans to raise £15-20m over the next seven years to fully realise our ambitions."
Dr Murden said the museum needed to improve its equipment and interpretation areas.
Other priorities include upgrading facilities for the conservation and restoration of the 285 vehicles on display at the complex, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
"We also plan to open up our internationally-acclaimed stored collections of more than 1.9 million items of automobilia and make them accessible for everyone to see," said Dr Murden.
"The world of motoring is rapidly changing and we must keep pace to tell its story."
Under phase one of the project, the entrance gallery will be transformed into a new welcome area where visitors can learn about the museum’s foundation.
Two other galleries will be combined into a large exhibition space that will tell the story of motoring from its beginnings to the present day as well as forecasting the future. Themed galleries will remain on the lower and raised mezzanine floors.
To make the museum more accessible for everyone, heavy entrance glass doors will be replaced with user-friendly, power-assisted alternatives.
More than 20 million people have visited the museum since it opened in 1972, when it replaced the much smaller Montagu Motor Museum.
Its vehicles, libraries and archives are regarded as one of the most significant motoring collections in the UK.
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