Tim Cooke, chief executive of National Museums Northern Ireland, at the Ulster Museum which is currently undergoing a £17million rejuvenation.
Ulster Museum's ongoing transformation has received a boost after National Museums Northern Ireland announced that more than £17 million has now been raised for the major refurbishment of the Belfast museum.
The project, which has expanded as more money has become available, will be completed this autumn with the museum opening to the public at the end of October 2009.
Tim Cooke, Chief Executive of National Museums Northern Ireland, said the main construction contract had been completed and the emphasis now is on the internal fit-out of the exhibition galleries.
"In the last six months we have secured an additional £2 million of funding, taking our total to £17.2 million," he reported. "We have been able to enhance the original project and are now entering the final phase.
"The building is shaping up into a superb museum with dramatic public spaces and galleries of exceptional quality. I think visitors will be surprised and thrilled by the extent of the transformation."
The museum is set to thrill visitors when it reopens at the end of October this year
When it opens the public will arrive through a new entrance space, see the transformation of the museum's History and Natural Science galleries and be able to enjoy a new restaurant with a terrace that leads out onto the Botanic Gardens.
There will also be four new learning zones and a high-level gallery for the display of glass, ceramics, silver and jewellery. A new Art Discovery Zone supported by the Friends of the Ulster Museum is being created as part of the suite of art galleries.
The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has provided most of the funding, with with the Heritage Lottery Fund, a number of foundations and private donors also offering support.
