Building Tate Liverpool

These records document the development of the first of Tate's regional galleries from the early discussions, through the design proposals considered for the Liverpool Albert Dock conversion, negotiations with government and other agencies, technical specifications, and funding to the opening of Tate Liverpool in May 1988

OPEN

The proposal for a gallery showing works from Tate's permanent collection for people living far from London was first presented to Tate's Trustees by Stuart Mason in 1973 at his final meeting as a Trustee. The idea gained further support with the arrival in 1980, of Alan Bowness as Tate Director. He had been an advocate for regional expansion of the arts in his role as Chairman of the Arts Council, Arts Panel. With the support of the Tate Trustees for a 'Tate in the North', in 1980 Bowness set about finding a suitable site. Various locations were initially considered including Halifax and Huddersfield before sites visits were made to Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield. Liverpool had been the last city Alan Bowness visited on his tour of potential locations. Here he was shown various disused buildings that might possibly be converted into a gallery, including a church, municipal hall, a railway building and a hotel, but it was the last site he visited, sitting at the heart of the run