An update on plans for the Eden Project Morecambe will be given at a public event at the Winter Gardens this week.
The latest in a series of 'Community Conversations' providing people with the latest news on the planned £100m attraction will take place tomorrow (Tuesday September 3) from 6pm.
The Community Conversations have mainly been taking place online, but this is a special in-person event at the theatre attended by members of the Eden team and their partners. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions.
The proposed Eden Project Morecambe is earmarked for 4.8 hectares of land on the central promenade in Morecambe, near the Midland hotel.
The mixed-use complex will be housed in shell-like domes and will combine indoor and outdoor attractions, themed around Morecambe Bay.
It will be run by the team behind the Eden Project attraction in Cornwall.
At the most recent Community Conversation on the Eden Project Morecambe in August, Si Bellamy, chief transformation officer, gave an update on the scheme.
Mr Bellamy (pictured below) said they are now "edging into 2027/28" for opening but still hopes work can start on-site by the end of this year.
Si Bellamy, chief transformation officer at Eden, said "all our plans remain on track" and said the new £100m attraction was now "in the delivery phase".
The Eden team had been aiming for a soft opening of the Morecambe Bay-themed facility - heralded as a game-changer for tourism in the town - in 2026 and full opening in 2027.
But Mr Bellamy said they had been encouraged, in early conversations with the new government, to aim for "realism" in the timescales for the project.
"Nobody wants a project that can't deliver," he said, speaking to around 130 people on an online 'Community Conversation' on Tuesday afternoon.
"This is a project now in delivery, after receipt of the first grant funding, and that's a huge milestone for the project.
"Without the support of the community, this doesn't happen, so please stay with us."
Mr Bellamy said the Eden team were still aiming for "site activation" by the end of 2024.
This would be for in-depth ground investigations, following on from initial ground work on the central Promenade site back in March 2023.
Construction, he said, would then follow.
In July, an agreement was signed to release the first £2.5m from the £50m awarded to the Eden Project Morecambe from the previous Conservative government's Levelling Up fund.
Speaking about the additional £50m towards the £100m total cost of the project, which is being pulled from private and philanthropic sources, he said "we have almost got all the funding together".
Read more: Opening date for Eden Project Morecambe now "edging into 2027/28" - Beyond Radio
Please register to reserve a place to attend Tuesday night's Community Conversation at the Winter Gardens on Marine Road Central in Morecambe. You can register for a place HERE.
The next online 'Community Conversation' about Eden Project Morecambe is on October 1. More info HERE.
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