 A CRUCIAL £11m grant was yesterday earmarked to fit out Merseyside's controversial new X-shaped Museum of Liverpool. The announcement is a major milestone for the "iconic" £65m Mann Island scheme, which has been dogged by problems since it was first drawn up. It means curators at National Museums Liverpool will be able to bring many of the city's hidden treasures out of storage to go on public display for the first time. Among them, NML revealed last night, will be the bedspread from John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1969 "bed in" for peace, in Montreal. Heritage Lottery Fund officials initially turned down an NML bid for £11.4m last January, but yesterday said they were happy with revised plans. But although the cash has now been set aside under Stage One of the bid process, HLF could still turn down the application at a later Stage Two. National Museums Liverpool yesterday admitted it still has about another £10m to find to finance the project, which tourism leaders last night described as a "spectacular" addition to the city's cultural offer. But opponents warned that building the futuristic museum alongside Mersey waterfront's historic Three Graces could still jeopardise the city's World Heritage status. The project has attracted criticism since it was first drawn up as an "11th-hour" replacement for the doomed Cloud iconic building. But NML director David Fleming last night insisted the museum was on track to open in 2010. "This is a major hurdle overcome," he said. "HLF had said to us that it looked rather expensive and asked us to explain why. But it is our ambition to be the greatest museum in the world. "Far too many of these projects nationally are done on a shoe-string. We have managed to persuade the HLF the money would be well spent. "I want to thank the HLF for showing faith in us, and I'm glad we were able to convince them. We have got about £10m left to raise and we are very confident we will be able to raise it. | 
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