A breaking ground ceremony will be held to celebrate the official start of work on the Eden Project Morecambe site.
Andy Jasper, CEO of the Eden Project charity, said the event on Wednesday June 24 would be “history in the making”.
Work is set to begin on the first part of the long-awaited £100m attraction – ‘the Bring Me Sunshine Garden’ – this summer, with construction to follow.
A day of celebration is planned for Wednesday June 24 as people gather at the site to mark the official first ‘spade in the ground’, with more details to come.
“Eden Project Morecambe will host a very special event on 24 June,” Andy Jasper (below) told Beyond Radio.
“The breaking ground ceremony will bring together dignitaries, funders, core stakeholders and the local community on the site to mark the moment before work officially begins.
“It’s the ‘clay pit moment’ before construction starts that we reflect on a lot in Cornwall.
“Those who stood there on the cusp of transformation were part of something very special and we want to give people in Morecambe that same sense of being part of something important that they can reflect on in years to come.
“History in the making!”
A celebratory ‘Community Conversation’ will also be held at the Winter Gardens – across the road from the site – that day.
Guests will hear first-hand how the £100m attraction is becoming a reality, directly from the project team and main contractor, VINCI Building.
This will be a free ticketed event, starting at 4.30pm on June 24, and more information is due shortly.
The Eden Project Morecambe is a planned new £100m visitor attraction on the former Dome/Bubbles site on the central Promenade in Morecambe, described as a “once in a generation opportunity” for the town.
A design image of Eden Project Morecambe
As well as exhibitions themed on the natural world and Morecambe Bay, housed inside a ‘Realm of the Sun’ and a ‘Realm of the Moon’, the attraction will include public gardens, a 6000-capacity concert venue, a cafe and a restaurant.
Plans for the attraction – then known as Eden Project North – were first revealed in 2018.
Planning permission was given for the scheme in 2022, then the government pledged £50m towards the project in 2023.
A planning variation was passed earlier this year to reflect changes to the design from an original concept of two larger domes and a smaller one on the site, to one large dome and a flatter mussel-shaped building next to it.
Revised plans said the Eden Project Morecambe will include a Metronome: Main entrance hall and orientation space containing arrival and visitor reception area; Realm of the Moon: Building containing Tidal Theatre, restaurant, retail and staff facilities; Tidal Theatre: Theatrical ‘black box’ experiential zone that brings to life rhythms of Morecambe Bay; Realm of the Sun: Horticultural exhibition space containing an immersive indoor landscape; Elder Tree: Large scale sculptural and experiential element within Realm of the Sun; All Seasons Garden: An outdoor, flexible open, garden space which connects to the Realm of the Sun; Community ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ Garden: Main area of public realm located between the main venue and Marine Road; and Central Rhythm Gardens: An outdoor, flexible open space with a landscaped arena to host concerts and activities.
A CGI image of the Elder Tree inside Eden Project Morecambe
‘The Bring Me Sunshine Garden’ earned national acclaim last month at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show where it won two awards.
Plants have arrived in Morecambe ahead of work starting on the garden, which will stretch from next to the Midland hotel to the popular wishing well on the Prom, which will remain and become part of the garden, as will the Morecambe War Memorial.
Eden Project is an educational charity and social enterprise with a global mission to create and build relationships between people and the natural world to demonstrate the power of working together for the benefit of all living things.
The first Eden Project opened 25 years ago, in a former China clay pit in Cornwall transformed into an immersive experience of plants and people.
