Plymouth City Council has announced plans to for a £21m historic and cultural centre to transform the existing museum in North Hill.

The existing museum will become an interactive centre, three times its current size.

The Council plans to bid for up to £13M from the Heritage Lottery’s national funding programme, plus smaller bids to other however, due to the economic benefits to the city, the cabinet is being asked to agree to a financial commitment of £3.5M from its Investment Fund.

The project will collaborate with Plymouth University, Plymouth College of Art, the Ministry Of Defence, the Register Office, the South West Film and Television Archives and the South West Image Bank Archive.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Tudor Evans, said: “It’s time to think big. If we want to compete for national and international tourism we must have attractions that people want to visit! When we launched Plymouth as Britain’s Ocean City, we meant it. This is one of the major pieces of work that will ensure we live up to our new title.

“This new attraction will transform the way people discover the city’s history and culture using the very latest in audio and visual technology. The £21M project will see the museum turned on its head. It will be exciting, interesting and will attract visitors in its own right.”