New Museum of Liverpool opens its doors to the public today
It has taken 10 years of hard work, changing plans and legal wrangling to get here – and now at 10am today the £72m Museum of Liverpool will throw open its doors to the public.
Britain’s largest newly-built museum for a century will become the latest addition to the city’s Pier Head, exactly 100 years to the day after the launch of the Liver Building.
At 8.30am, 400 golden ticket holders, including 10 Daily Post competition winners, will enter the venue for the chance to explore it ahead of the crowds.
They include community groups and local people who have helped create the displays – either by lending or donating an object, or by sharing their memories of the city.
The building will be declared officially open during a “People’s Opening” starting at 10am, led by National Museums Liverpool chair Phil Redmond and NML director Dr David Fleming.
Mossley Hill six-year-old Finn O’Hare, representing the youngest generation of Liverpudlians, will cut a giant pink ribbon.
Prof Redmond said: “It is fitting that in Finn we have a regular Liverpool lad helping out at such a pivotal event in our city’s history.
“Liverpudlians across the ages have created a city with a host of tales to tell, and that is what the Museum of Liverpool is all about, and why we have chosen to celebrate with a People’s Opening.”
Today’s launch is the first of two phases and will see the opening of three main galleries: Wondrous Place, focusing on the city’s arts and sporting achievements; The People’s Republic, exploring the experience of living in Liverpool, and Global City, looking at Liverpool’s history as the second city of the British Empire.
There is also Little Liverpool, a dedicated gallery for children aged up to six, the ground floor atrium with gift shop and cafe, and the Skylight Gallery, displaying Ben Johnson’s specially commissioned art work, Liverpool Cityscape, and a temporary exhibition of photographs by Mike McCartney.
The second phase, comprising the History Detectives, Great Port, Kings Regiment and Liverpool Overhead Railway galleries, will follow in the autumn.
Dr Fleming said: “For the past 10 years our team has worked tirelessly, with a great deal of help from the public to channel this ambition and develop a museum which explains Liverpool using objects to illustrate its story.
“Liverpool is very easily misunderstood not least because in living memory it has been a poor city plagued by unemployment and poverty. But less than 100 years ago Liverpool was one of the greatest cities on earth and only through knowing this and understanding why this was can anyone understand the modern city.
“The Museum of Liverpool is a living biography of the city, a biography that is honest, ever-changing, created by people who love living here, many of whom were born here.”
More than 6,000 objects will be on display including the stage upon which John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met in 1957, a 10m-long Chinese ceremonial dragon, the first Ford Anglia made at the company Halewood factory in 1963, Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman’s Lotus Sport bike, the Victoria Cross medal awarded to Sergeant David Jones of the King’s Regiment, two 360° immersive films about football and The Beatles and a life-size 5.5m-tall Liver Bird.
Celebrations will continue this weekend with the On the Waterfront festival at the Pier Head, marking the centenary of the Liver Building.
Each evening, a 3-D son et lumière spectacular will combine images and sound to tell the story of the city’s 800-year history – encompassing the civil war, industrial revolution, World War II and The Beatles.
The show will be projected on the outside of the Liver Building before moving to the Museum of Liverpool, which will extend its usual opening hours to 10am-10pm from Friday to Saturday.
Musical performances will kick start the events, featuring Liverpool blues singer Connie Lush on Friday, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on Saturday and local band 6ix Toys on Sunday.
Giant lanterns representing key points in the city’s history will be on display at the Pier Head and the canal will be lit by illuminated fish.
Martin Posta, of Czech Republic-based artist group The Macula, which has created the son et lumière spectacular, said: “The Royal Liver Building should represent the old, traditional aspect of Liverpool’s history, drawing inspiration from the uniqueness of the architecture and depicting the city’s 800-year-history on the surface of the building.
“At the same time we want to reflect its significance as a symbol of the wealth during the late 19th and early-20th centuries.”
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