Bid to axe baths museum plan defeated

A BID to scrap plans for a multi-million-pound Roman baths museum in Chichester after disclosures about the rising cost of the project was defeated.

By The Newsroom

Published 29th Apr 2008, 13:31 BST

Updated 8th Jun 2018, 04:10 BST

District council members voted 26-11 to reject a proposal by Lib Dem group leader Cllr Andrew Smith not to go ahead. Instead, they supported an outline design for the iconic new building, which will display the remains of the 2nd-century baths in Tower Street.

A financial cutback was ordered, to keep the cost down. A total of 1m will be axed from the exhibition budget, reducing it to 400,000, but the council hopes to restore the cut by seeking support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and private sponsors.

Members heard that the cost of the museum was set to rise from the original 6.6m estimate to more than 8m unless action was taken. Following steps agreed by the council, that figure now stands at 6.9m.

For full story see West Sussex Gazette April 30