MORE than half a million visitors a year are expected to visit the country's biggest museum dedicated to the slave trade, at Liverpool's Albert Dock.
The Grade 1 listed Dock Traffic Office, now owned by Granada TV, is to undergo a major £10m expansion with an impressive glass bridge linking it to the existing Maritime Museum.
It will give visitors views across the Liverpool skyline and the Three Graces. The new slavery centre will be the biggest of its kind in the country.
The attraction will house a new resource centre, while the bulk of the slavery exhibition will be on the third floor of the Maritime Museum. This first stage of the project will open in 2007 to coincide with the bicenten- nial of the abolition of slavery in the UK and Liverpool's 800th birthday.
The link bridge and the entrance to the new building should be in place by 2009. Yesterday, National Museums Liverpool confirmed it has already secured a £1.65m grant from the Heritage Lottery site.
The organisation is in the process of buying the Granada building, and say it is important that such a high-profile building is used for a cultural, rather than a commercial, use.
Currently, the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery is located in the basement of the Maritime Museum, despite its popularity and importance.
The increased space will allow the museum to focus on the impact of slavery, and its legacy.
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