Amuseum: £1.75m funding for new Blackpool museum

The new museum would be built on the Promenade in the former Sands Venue

Blackpool is to get further government funding towards plans for a new museum telling the story of the resort.

The council has been successful in obtaining £1.75m from the government's Coastal Communities Fund to help develop tourist attractions.

The government pledged £4m last year for the museum, which has a working title name of Amuseum.

The museum, set to open in 2020, will be located on the world-famous Golden Mile in the former Sands Venue.

Other projects to benefit in the North West to benefit from the Coastal Communities Fund include:

• £3.64m for The Beacon Arts Village to refurbish and modernise a disused Victorian town hall in Hoylake, Wirral, to form a cinema and creative space

• £2.35m towards a £5.55m project to create visitor attractions along Morecambe Bay backed by South Lakeland District Council

• £772,000 awarded for a £1.22m scheme to link the "coastal economies" of Cleveleys and Fleetwood

Amuseum in Blackpool will feature artefacts, film, music and performance to tell the story of the resort and would be a "blend of museum and visitor attraction", the council said.

It is hoped it will attract 300,000 visitors a year and is aimed of "engaging younger audiences in the history of Blackpool".