The inspiration behind the Peter Pan story, Moat Brae House, is being fully restored and turned into the National Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling in Dumfries, Scotland.
Opening later this year, the centre hopes to attract around 250,000 visitors in its first five years and is being built by British construction firm Balfour Beatty.
Peter Pan author JM Barrie played in the property and its grounds as a child and described it as an "enchanted land" that inspired him to write the plays and books that feature the Peter Pan character.
The project has also received celebrity endorsement and patronage by way of former model and actress Joanna Lumley, who appears in a promotional video for it on its website.
On a visit to the site last year, Lumley said: “It is so exciting to actually stand here in JM Barrie’s ‘enchanted land’ and see our dreams for a Neverland Discovery Garden begin to come true”.
The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust, the organisation behind the new attraction, has now raised of £6.1m ($8m, €6.8m) of its targeted £6.5m ($8.6m, €7.3m) financing for the centre.
