The National Space Centre in Leicester has submitted plans to the city council for a £5m expansion to the site.
If approved, the National Space Centre expansion will consist of a £4 million extension to be built on the site of the Challenger Learning Centre outside the entrance to the main building.
A further £1m would be invested into a project to build a new ticket entrance.
National Space Centre Chief Executive, Chas Bishop, told the Leicester Mercury: “We have been growing extensively over the last seven years with visitor numbers up over 50 per cent in that period.
“We have also grown our educational offer through the National Space Academy.
“Now we simply need more space in every sense of the word.”
He added in a statement: “If approval is granted by the council, a total of 10 new jobs will be created, bringing us up to more than 200 here.”
The National Space Centre has six interactive galleries dedicated to space exploration. Holding the title of the UK’s largest planetarium, the 165-seat ‘Space Theatre’ facility presents a number of fulldome feature presentations, in addition to hosting high-profile movie and sci-fi conventions.
The National Space Centre is also home to the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium.
The centre is the UK’s largest visitor attraction and research facility dedicated to space. It opened to the public in June 2001 and has welcomed over 1.5 million visitors, including over 350, 000 school children.
Image: National Space Centre – Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium
https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/revealed-leicesters-national-space-centre-921849
