Newcastle’s regeneration set to continue with major new museum attraction.

500 word Newcastle local interest piece that was published online earlier today.

In recent years Newcastle has been transformed from a crumbling industrial centre into a cosmopolitan cultural city that rivals the greatest in Europe. If you need proof, just look around you – to the beautifully restored Georgian buildings of Grainger Town, to the buzzing, regenerated quayside, to the iconic Millennium Bridge, to the Sage Music Centre, and perhaps most obviously, to the Cultural Quarter where a spectacular vision of Newcastle’s future is being realized.

New landmarks being planned for this area of the city, where the town blends into the expanding university, include the creation of a ‘Culture Lab’ for the development and performance of new media projects and the digital arts, a major and overdue refurbishment of the Playhouse Theatre, a new Botanic Garden which will bring natural beauty to the heart of the city and a Great North Museum, a major co-operative venture between four of the city’s existing museums.

When the new Museum opens in 2009 it will be a flagship visitor attraction incorporating collections from the Hancock Museum and the University of Newcastle's Museum of Antiquities, the Shefton Museum and the Hatton Gallery. It will combine the natural history collection of the Hancock with the Shefton’s spectacular Greek and Etruscan objects, the significant Roman and Anglo-Saxon collections of the Museum of Antiquities and the fine art of the Hatton Gallery. Exhibits confirmed for the £26million development will include a large-scale, interactive model of Hadrian’s Wall, major displays highlighting the diversity of the local environment and habitats, mummies from Ancient Egypt, a Planatarium and a life size T-Rex dinosaur skeleton. In a nutshell, it will be a cultural landmark to rival anything that London has to offer.

It is hoped that the museum will enable visitors to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors and explore the natural history of the North East from prehistoric times through to the present day. They’ll be able to compare life in modern Britain to the ancient cultures of Rome, Greece and Egypt. Families will be able to examine amazing specimens of wildlife, as well as live insects, fish, amphibians and reptiles. The modern, fine and decorative art on display will encourage a whole generation of new artists in the region. It’s also being designed as a truly immersive experience, with staff always at hand to guide visitors through the museum, and a range of coffee shops and restaurants in which to relax after a long days exploring.

Most importantly of all, the museum was conceived as a free exhibit, as a place to attract visitors and a space for Newcastle’s community to share. With the news of the commissioning of Great North Museum being welcomed across the board, there’s little sign that Newcastle’s spectacular regeneration is slowing down.