Project Status - Completed
- Start Date: May 2017
- End Date: June 2019
- Local Growth Fund allocation: £1m
- Awarded to: MEMO
Local Growth Funding has been allocated to develop a unique tourist attraction in a mine on Portland.
Eden Portland brings together the visions of two world-class attraction projects that had been planned for Portland for some time - the MEMO (Mass Extinction Monitoring Observatory) and Jurassica projects.
In partnership with Eden Project International Limited, Eden Portland has transformed and regenerated an exhausted quarry and mine workings to create a world-class visitor destination.
It is estimated that the project will attract 320,000 visitors a year and create 230 jobs.
The attraction is located in spectacular tunnels excavated by Albion Stone in Jordan's Mine. There is nearly a linear kilometre of underground 'gallery' space. Inside this labyrinth of tunnels, visitors will explore the dramatic history of life on earth.
Simultaneously, following the example of the Eden Project in Cornwall, the project will spearhead the economic revival of the island which has remained a persistent pocket of coastal deprivation with high incidence of NEETS among 16-24 year olds.
Eden Portland is partnership between MEMO, Albion Stone (mining experts and main contractor) and the Eden Project (content development and site operator). The project also received financial support from Dorset Council, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, philanthropist Sue Lyons, and The Valentine Trust. MEMO is an educational charity with the mission to inspire wonder in the planet’s biodiversity, both past and present, as a way to engage the public in biodiversity loss.
Visit the https://www.edenportland.org/ to find out more.
View the End of Project Report.
