Cutty Sark 'Not Ready To Reopen'
After being devastated by fire in May 2007, work to resurrect the Cutty Sark has been painstaking.
Disappointed tourists cannot see anything beyond the boarding that surrounds the world-famous clipper.
On site, a rusting skeleton is all that is visible through the tarpaulin and scaffolding.
Arson was suspected, but the cause of the fire was more mundane - an industrial vacuum cleaner left on over a weekend.
First a crime scene and then a toxic hazard, it was months after the fire before work could commence on the site.
All the delays mean the ship will not reopen to the public this month as planned. Visitors will now have to wait until mid 2010.
The cost of the project has spiralled. Up to £10m of the £40m total still needs to be raised.
In the current economic climate, the clipper's keepers are finding that money increasingly hard to find.
Billed as the most famous ship in the world, 16m people have visited since she opened in dry dock in 1957.
Trustees hope that their plans to create a futuristic space underneath the ship, that will be available for hire, will see many more visitors flood in.
Some have accused the Trust of turning a piece of maritime history into a Disney inspired theme park.
But the trust says that for the sake of the Cutty Sark's preservation, it is crucial to make her as self-sustaining as possible.
The project is described by the trust as an "imaginative conservation" rather than a restoration and they are proud of the fact that when the Cutty Sark reopens 90% of the ship will be original...
Read entire article at Sky News
Disappointed tourists cannot see anything beyond the boarding that surrounds the world-famous clipper.
On site, a rusting skeleton is all that is visible through the tarpaulin and scaffolding.
Arson was suspected, but the cause of the fire was more mundane - an industrial vacuum cleaner left on over a weekend.
First a crime scene and then a toxic hazard, it was months after the fire before work could commence on the site.
All the delays mean the ship will not reopen to the public this month as planned. Visitors will now have to wait until mid 2010.
The cost of the project has spiralled. Up to £10m of the £40m total still needs to be raised.
In the current economic climate, the clipper's keepers are finding that money increasingly hard to find.
Billed as the most famous ship in the world, 16m people have visited since she opened in dry dock in 1957.
Trustees hope that their plans to create a futuristic space underneath the ship, that will be available for hire, will see many more visitors flood in.
Some have accused the Trust of turning a piece of maritime history into a Disney inspired theme park.
But the trust says that for the sake of the Cutty Sark's preservation, it is crucial to make her as self-sustaining as possible.
The project is described by the trust as an "imaginative conservation" rather than a restoration and they are proud of the fact that when the Cutty Sark reopens 90% of the ship will be original...