Free tickets to SeaCity Museum for residents
Every household in Southampton will be offered free tickets to the city's much-anticipated Sea City Museum, to celebrate the opening of the attraction in April 2012.
SeaCity Museum, primed as one of the leading maritime tourist destinations in the UK, will open to the public on 10 April – 100 years after RMS Titanic departed Southampton docks for her fateful voyage.
In an unprecedented move the council will give a group ticket - worth up to £25 - to each household in the city. Councillor John Hannides, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Heritage, said: “This is a fantastic project and will put Southampton firmly in the national spotlight, attracting tens of thousands of people from around the world to our city.
“I am very pleased to offer these free tickets to our residents as we want local people to be among the first to enjoy this world class museum. My message to residents is that this is your museum - the Titanic story is your story and part of your city’s heritage.”
SeaCity Museum will tell the largely untold and fascinating story of Southampton’s crew and the impact the tragedy had on families in the city. The impact of the tragedy was felt no more so than in Southampton. Most of the crew of the Titanic lived in the city and more than 500 households in Southampton lost at least one family member. In total 538 Southampton crew members lost their lives.
SeaCity Museum will also feature other major maritime led exhibitions, telling the stories of people who have arrived and departed in the city since pre-historic times.
Cllr Royston Smith, Leader of Southampton City Council, said: “SeaCity Museum will be one of the leading maritime destinations in the country and the largest Titanic Exhibition in Great Britain. It will be a significant boost to the economy, create new jobs and attract new investment to the city. But those things aside it will tell Southampton’s tragic role in one of the world’s most famous and most tragic events.
“It is right that this story will now be told to a world-wide audience and it is right that our residents, many of whom lost ancestors on the ship, get to enjoy this world-class attraction for free.”
Practical completion - all three exhibition areas were handed over by Kier Southern to the city council as complete. 8Build the council's museum fit-out contractor started work on the exhibitions.
A large scale model of the Cunard Queen Mary ship was the first artefact to arrive in the highly anticipated SeaCity Museum.
The model that weighs over one tonne and is seven metres in length was moved from the Maritime Museum to its new permanent home on Wednesday 5th October.
The model made a modest exit from its home of 44 years through the top window at the front of building. During the move the model was protected by a wooden box that was only opened once it arrived safely at its new home.
The model, built in Northampton for an exhibition in New York is made from one log of white mahogany, and will be on display to the public when the SeaCity Museum opens for business April 2012.
Councillor John Hannides, Cabinet member for Resources, Leisure and Culture said: “Watching the Queen Mary model arrive at the SeaCity Museum marked a significant milestone for everyone involved in the project.
“Tourists, visitors and residents will all have the opportunity to see the model and a vast range of artefacts from our collection in the SeaCity Museum. The enviable venue will become home to a wide range of artefacts many of which we have been unable to permanently display before.”
The Maritime Museum and Museum of Archaeology have now permanently closed to the public, allowing time for the artefacts to be carefully removed, and transported to their new home.
Photographs taken during the Queen Mary's move can be viewed on the Sea City Image Gallery
SeaCity reached a key construction milestone, at the beginning of August, with the final stages of the new special exhibitions pavilion nearing completion.
To mark this significant stage in the project, Southampton City Council and contractor Kier Southern held a topping out ceremony on August 3 which celebrated reaching the highest point of the build - the tip of the pavilion.
During the ceremony the first metal coping was placed on the pavilion roof by Southampton’s Mayor, Councillor Terry Matthews, Kier Southern and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
SeaCity, which has been supported by a grant of £4.9million from the HLF, is planned to open to the public in April 2012, 100 years after the Titanic tragedy.
Councillor John Hannides, Cabinet Member for Resources, Leisure and Culture said: “I’m genuinely excited the build of the SeaCity Museum is progressing so well and we have reached the highest point of the pavilion. I am sure residents are as proud as I am that the high-profile SeaCity is moving ahead and remains on course to open its doors in April next year.
“The attraction will not only bring together the city’s heritage, it will attract thousands of visitors and create many new jobs. This investment demonstrates our ongoing plans to develop Southampton as the capital of the south.”
Meanwhile work continues to transform the former Magistrates' Courts and police station with around 100 contractors and sub-contractors busy on site every day.
• The internal walls to the new iconic special exhibitions pavilion are being installed this month.
• As the building previously had no lift provision - currently a pit is being dug in the foundations of the building for the lift.
• The steel frame holding up the building is being exposed in certain areas and maintained and repaired to ensure the buildings life is extended.
• New drainage tanks have been created in the access ramp behind the special exhibitions pavilion and a new cable has been laid to service a new substation being built at the back of the project to provide sufficient power to the new visitor attraction.
• The heritage windows from the buildings have been removed repaired and given a new lease of life and are being replaced in the building with new secondary glazing.
Southampton City Council
