§ MR. COGHILL (Stoke-upon-Trent)To ask the hon. Member for Chorley, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, if he can say when the new buildings of the Victoria and Albert Museum in Cromwell Road are likely to be finished, and if efforts will be made to have them completed before the close of the present year; when will the new wing of the Museum in Imperial Institute Road be opened, and how soon can the temporary sheds which are now used for the purposes of the Museum between Prince's Gate and Queen's Gate be dispensed with.
(Answered by Lord Balcarres.) The contract for the building of the Victoria and Albert Museum is to be finished in February, 1907. It is impossible to hasten the completion. Hon. Members are perhaps not aware that the foundation stone was laid by Her late Majesty's
† See (4) Debates, cxlii., 1204.304 desire at a date considerably earlier than the works could be begun; hence much apparent delay. As regards the Royal College of Science in Imperial Institute Road, the building cannot be ready for occupation before the spring of next year. None of the temporary sheds can be vacated until then at the earliest.