£20m Titanic tale to tell

7:05am Tuesday 15th July 2008

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By Keith Hamilton »

A multi-million-pound tourist attraction telling the story of Southampton's legendary passenger liners is being planned for the city, the Echo can reveal.

The £20m Titanic and Ocean Liner Experience', the only one of its kind in the country, would attract many thousands of people to Southampton every year.

The ambitious project is scheduled to open in spring of 2012, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic.

The brainchild of two local businessmen, the scheme would see the development of a purpose-built waterfront centre featuring exhibitions of many of the great passenger ships from Southampton's maritime past right up to the present day.

Remarkable story Glen Gardiner, who is working on the scheme with book publisher and film producer, Roger Hardingham, said: "For generations our docks have been the home port for some of the greatest liners and cruise ships the world has ever seen. However there is nowhere in the city where this remarkable story can be fully told.

"The Titanic & Ocean Liner Experience would give visitors the chance to see for themselves what it was like to walk the decks and see something of the magnificent surroundings of ships old and new.

"Our aim is to create the first attraction dedicated to the great passenger liners of the past with special features on RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth and a whole area of the experience for the dramatic story of White Star's ill-fated Titanic.'' Now the search is on for suitable premises to house the attraction and the developers have also been involved in initial discussions about funding.

A meeting has taken place with representatives from other museums and local heritage interests to discuss the possibility of pooling resources.

"We are looking for a waterfront location and have talked to several parties about possible sites,'' said Mr Gardiner, who works in Southampton's shipping industry.

"An area close to the the Royal Pier maybe available as are other sites along the River Itchen. There is also the possibility of siting the attraction on the other side of Southampton Water close to Marchwood and Hythe which would be linked with the city by a ferry service.'' Mr Gardiner was working in the French shipbuilding town of St Nazaire in 2002 when he visited a local attraction called Escal'Atlantic, an exhibition tracing the history of old liners such as SS Normandie and SS France together with an exhibition on how Southampton's Queen Mary 2 was built in the nearby shipyard.

"Our goal is to build the Titanic and Ocean Liner Experience along similar lines to Escal' Atlantic but base it on the great British ships plus a special and comprehensive area dedicated to Titanic,'' he said.

"We want to recreate many of the areas onboard the famous Queens and visitors would be able to relive the thrill of an Atlantic voyage, lunch in the grand dining halls and walk the promenade deck.''

Find out more at... www.oceanlinerexperience.co.uk