Investment deal agreed to support Black Country Living Museum expansion

More than seven hundred thousand pounds has been given to the Black Country Living Museum by the West Midlands Combined Authority.

The site is building new attractions at its site in Dudley, offering visitors a chance to experience what life was like in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

The Forging Ahead project is the Museum's largest and most ambitious development since it opened in 1978.

Once finished it will include a brand-new visitor welcome centre, learning spaces, industrial quarter, and historic high street.

It will expand the visitor experience by around a third and allow the Museum to cater for around half a million visitors a year.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said: "I'm extremely pleased that the WMCA was able to help make this exciting new development a reality.

"The Museum is a fantastic heritage and cultural asset for our region helping to generate tourist income and new jobs for the West Midlands.

"It's fascinating to see how iconic buildings are being saved for future generations through these meticulous brick-by-brick reconstructions and recreations.

"The Museum already does a wonderful job of whisking people back in time to explore the Black Country's amazingly rich heritage and the new Forging Ahead development will supercharge that experience further still."

The first phase of the project features 26 historic buildings and structures.

Work to recreate Wolverhampton's iconic Elephant and Castle pub has already been completed, and Dudley's Woodside Library will be rebuilt as one of the main landmarks of the new historic high street.

The WMCA's investment is helping to meet the challenges of cleaning up derelict parts of the site.

Once completed, Forging Ahead will create more than 140 new jobs at the museum and within the local area - and 30 of these will be a direct result of the WMCA's investment in the scheme.

Andrew Lovett OBE, chief executive at Black Country Living Museum, said: "This investment from the WMCA cements our ambition to bring the Museum's story into the 1940s, 50s and 60s and step into living memory.

"We will widen our storytelling and introduce our visitors to new Black Country characters and stories that they might not be familiar with.

"The feedback from our visitors following the opening of the Elephant and Castle pub has been wonderful, and we can't wait to bring other beloved buildings back to life and expand the visitor experience.

"The wealth of personal memories we've heard has been heartening. We couldn't be happier."

Cllr Mike Bird, WMCA portfolio holder for housing and land and leader of Walsall Council, said: "Yet again the WMCA is leading the way in using the money it has secured from Government to unlock abandoned derelict sites for new brownfield development that gives local people new homes and jobs and our regional business and tourism sector the land and premises they need to grow and prosper.

"All this, while helping to protect our green belt from unnecessary development."