Sphinx Solutions On Southend's New Cliffs Museum

March 5, 2012 - PRLog -- The new museum in Southend, costing £35m and rising from the heart of the seafront cliffs, could be built within six years. Southend Council have revealed that they hope to finish the facility between 2018 and 2020. After more than 18 months of preparation, plans for the project are to be unveiled on Monday. An area of the cliff gardens, closed by a series of landslips a decade ago, is also planned to be reopened by next summer. We spoke to a staff member at Sphinx Solutions, a local sales and marketing company, who said, “The project is really moving on quickly, and I’m so pleased. It will be a beautiful building to visit once it’s finished, and will be an amazing asset to Southend.”

Derek Jarvis, the Tory councillor responsible for culture, said, “I am absolutely delighted we have got to this stage. This has been a long-term project which we have had to be patient with, but I am glad we can show we are moving forward and making real progress.”

The idea to build a museum complex as part of the plans to shore up the cliffs emerged in 2008. Architects AEW, unveiled conceptual images, two years later, of the buildings four floating ‘eyes’ which will look out over the Thames estuary. Bosses have previously refused to give a deadline for completion, as find funds for the project has been difficult. There has been no comment on where the money is to be found for the development, however they hope to secure planning permission within three months and start work on the stabilisation process shortly afterwards. “The architect’s images are just amazing,” said our source from Sphinx Solutions, “They’ve really created a beautiful design for the area.”

£3.2m has already been set aside by the council, for the project which plans to insert a huge steel frame into the cliffs near Clifftown Parade. The frame will act as support for the cliffs, preventing any more slippages, and will also act as the back wall of the museum. Simon Leftley, the council’s corporate director of adult and community services, said, “We hope work will go fairly smoothly and we’ll be able to reopen the cliff gardens to the public by summer 2013. That will prepare the way for work on the museum to begin, once the funding has been secured.”

Our source at Sphinx Solutions commented, “I just can’t wait to walk around it, and see how it looks when it’s all finished. It’s going to be a great little place for a day-trip.”

www.maldonandburnhamstandard.co.uk/news/south_essex_news/9567303.Six_years_to_build_Southend_s_new_Cliffs_Museum/