§ 46. Mr. BoswellTo ask the Minister for the Arts whether there have been any donations from the private or corporate sector to assist with the refurbishment of public buildings under his control.
§ Mr. LuceI recently announced the establishment of the museums and galleries improvement fund, a joint initiative between the Wolfson charities and Government. The fund will have an annual budget of £4 million for the next three years for the refurbishment of galleries in United Kingdom public museums and galleries. I greatly welcome this exciting initiative.
National museums and galleries have attracted substantial support from business and private sources towards the refurbishment of their buildings. The following are recent major donations (over £0.5 million):
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Sponsor Amount Museum/Gallery Purpose (£ million) MEPC 1.0 Sir John Soane's Museum Repairs to fabric of the building Clore Foundation 6.0 Tate Gallery New Clore Gallery housing The Turner bequest (opened 1987) Sainsbury Brothers Substantial sum National Gallery New Sainsbury Wing (due open Spring 1991) Walter Annenberg $5.0 National Gallery Refurbishment of Impressionist Rooms Nomura Securities Ltd. 1.5 Tate Gallery Refurbishment work Mr. T. T. Tsui 1.25 Victoria and Albert New Chinese Gallery Mr. Wohl 0.75 National Gallery Refurbishment of Room 9 Benefaction from the late Sir John Addis 0.66 British Museum Islamic Gallery (opened June 1989) Sainsbury Family 0.85 Science Museum New Food For Thought Gallery (opened October 1989)