§ Mr. BaldryTo ask the Minister for the Arts what proposals he is making for the further construction of the new British Library building at St. Pancras when building work on the present stage is completed in 1993.
§ Mr. LuceI reported to the House on 15 December 1987 that I had authorised a feasibility study to examine options for the concluding stage of the British Library project. The study was carried out by the Property Services Agency, the British Library and the design team who designed the first phase of the building, under the sponsorship of the Office of Arts and Libraries.
The Government have carefully considered the results of the study. I am happy to report that a decision has now been made to complete the project, at a cost of £90 million at current prices, in a way which will meet the key requirements of the Library.
The new building at St. Pancras will enable the library to concentrate most of its main reference collections at one location in a controlled pollution free environment. This will allow the British Library to vacate many of the 19 sites around London, where its stock is currently located, and to unite its major services within a single purpose-built building, to provide greatly improved facilities for readers and staff.
I have authorised the immediate start of the design of the additional phase of works required to complete the project by a target date of 1996.