City set for �28m Titanic museum

The Titanic sank in 1912 with the loss of 1,523 lives

A new museum charting the story of the Titanic could be built ahead of the 100th anniversary of the sinking.

The £28m project in Southampton, from where the liner set sail in 1912 on her maiden voyage, is set to feature a climb-aboard replica of the ship.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded almost £500,000 in development funding - with the potential for a further £4.5m towards construction.

The council needs to find a further £10m to fund the first phase of works.

If successful, the city council's Civic Centre will be converted with the main exhibition hall turned into a scene of the dockside in Southampton with the Titanic about to depart.

This museum will be of international significance and could attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year Councillor John Hannides

The story of the disaster - when the ship hit an iceberg leading to the loss of 1,523 lives - and the finding of the wreck will be part of the exhibition.

About 4,000 items from the ship are also set to be displayed within galleries.

Councillor John Hannides, said: "This museum will be of international significance and could attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

"Southampton was the home of the Titanic so it is only fitting that we tell our story.

"When the ship tragically sank 549 Southampton people lost their lives and hundreds of families in the city were directly affected. The impact was felt right across the world, but nowhere more so than in Southampton.

"We now need to do all we can to see how we can raise the funds to make this happen."

Millvina Dean, 97, from the New Forest, Hampshire, is now the last living survivor of the disaster. She was just nine weeks old when the liner sank on 15 April, 1912.

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