09/05/2013
NEWS STORY
Silverstone is set to receive a £9.1m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund as it seeks to create a Formula One Heritage Centre.
The project is one of six to be given support however, the money will only be made available once detailed applications have been made and accepted, though the Heritage Lottery Fund will provide funding for this process also.
The Formula One Heritage Centre, which will cost £20m in total, will include an exhibition centre and a cinema which will give viewers the feeling of driving an F1 car around the Northamptonshire track. The plans also include a new archive for (circuit owner) the British Racing Drivers' Club, which will be open to the public.
"It is a very exciting project," said Sally Reynolds, according to the Guardian, the circuit's leisure development director revealing that the Heritage Centre will tell the story of the land from Saxon times to the present including its role as an airbase during the second world war.
"The UK and certainly the area around Silverstone plays a unique role in world motorsport," she added, "it is responsible for effectively exporting motorsport to the world."
According to Jenny Abramsky, the Heritage Lottery Fund's chair, the six projects succeeded because they reflected a "real desire to tell the stories of important aspects of the UK's heritage".
"In an extraordinarily competitive funding environment, these six proposals stood out because of their strong focus on regeneration and importance to their local communities," she added.
The other winning projects are the Aberdeen art gallery, Auckland Castle in County Durham, Redruth's old brewery in Cornwall, HMS Caroline in Belfast and Alexandra Palace in north London.