The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, yesterday launched the architectural plans for the State's first interactive science centre aimed at children and young adults. It is due to be completed by 2010 next to Heuston Station in Dublin.
The Exploration Station building is to be built in a partnership between the Government, AIB - which yesterday announced €8 million sponsorship for the project - and the volunteer board of trustees of the centre.
It is estimated that 650,000 children and adults will visit the centre during the first five years of its existence.
With a target audience of families, children aged five to 17, teachers and tourists, as well as more specifically those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the new centre, next to Heuston Gate, will have seven permanent galleries, occupying nearly half the building space, and flexible programme spaces.
Among the other features will be a gallery for travelling exhibits which will change approximately every six months, "fast" and "slow" circulation routes for visitors, a gallery for under fives and a separate gallery for teenagers, four workshops cum studio/laboratory spaces, and a cafe and gift shop.
Figures for the cost of the project were unavailable yesterday. However, the Office of Public Works, which has provided architectural and engineering support for the project, will provide funding for the building from the sale of State-owned land at Heuston Gate.
The board of trustees of the centre, chaired by former Dublin City University president Dr Daniel O'Hare, is seeking an additional €15 million through fundraising over the next three to four years. The centre is expected to have day-to-day running costs of between €3-€3.5 million per year, most of which will be recouped through gate receipts and other sources of revenue.
But some €600,000 per annum may also need to be raised to meet any shortfall in the day-to-day costs of running the centre.
In his address, Mr Ahern said the "stunning" new centre would complement recent school and third-level- based science initiatives funded by his Government.
"This heralds a new era in our appreciation of science and technology," he said. "It will be the departure point for a voyage of discovery . . . its mission will be to inspire a lifelong passion for discovery and innovation."
Welcoming the move, Pharmachemical Ireland, which represents the pharmaceutical and chemicals industry within Ibec, said it was vital that more children study science.
However, the group's director, Matt Moran, also said the Government should give "serious consideration" to investing in second-level science teaching.
It is hoped the new centre, located close to the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, will form a central part of the development of a new "museum quarter" for the city.