Dover District Council to give £700,000 towards £7.45 million refurbishment of Dover Discovery Centre
10:05, 13 April 2021
updated: 12:57, 13 April 2021
A district council will contribute £700,000 towards a multi-million pound refurbishment of a town centre building.
Kent County Council has been working towards redeveloping Dover's Discovery Centre which is expected to cost £7.45 million.
The KCC-owned building - which has more recently been used as a Covid-19 testing centre - will be reconfigured to allow for the county council's children services team to relocate there.
The refurbishment will also include a walk-in archive facility and education room to allow better access to the town's adjoining museum with better access to records and artefacts.
During a meeting of Dover District Council's cabinet yesterday (Monday), councillors agreed to allocate funds towards the project and also agreed to use a portion of a £830,000 grant awarded to the council to make Dover Museum more energy-efficient.
The council's deputy leader Cllr Michael Holloway, said: "It does enable us to fast forward the plans and ambitions we have for recalibrating our museum and will enable use to deliver on our archive and search room - which has been in discussion for the last two to three years - hopefully by early 2023.
"All of this is at the heart of increasing footfall in our town centre and increasing our visitor and tourism agenda."
KCC acquired the building in 2001 after it was closed in 1999.
It formerly hosted The White Cliffs Experience which highlighted the town's history covering eras such as the Roman occupation and Second World War.
