Just over 50 years ago, the future of one of Liverpool’s most famous landmarks was hanging in the balance.
After construction in 1846, The Royal Albert Dock had witnessed close to 100 years of trade passing through its waters and filling its warehouses before its fortunes rapidly changed. The distinctive collection of buildings had already suffered through relentless bombing raids during the second world war, but it then faced an economic bombardment in the decades after.
As Liverpool’s strength as a port waned, with Europe emerging as the UK’s main partner and Liverpool stuck on the wrong side of the country, the enormous trading capabilities of the Albert Dock were increasingly redundant. It was eventually abandoned with its waters silting up.
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According to Dr Liz Stewart from National Museums Liverpool, its future was “hanging in the balance in the late 1970s” despite only being listed 20 years earlier, such was its dilapidation and poor condition. “It needed a new function and it needed a new life,” added Dr Stewart, pointing to the conversations that eventually saved the site from disappearing into rubble.
Its salvation came in the form of a vision tabled in 1981 by the Merseyside Development Corporation (MDC), a large regeneration project that had the backing of then Secretary for State for the Environment, Conservative MP Michael Heseltine. The development would see the eventual creation of new living space, thriving nightlife and restaurants and a television studio, but much of the area’s revival can be followed through the arrival of the Maritime Museum and Tate Liverpool.
The former officially opened in 1984, expanding later in 1986, with Tate arriving in his position on the corner of the docks in 1988. The two institutions launched at a time of significant hardship for the city - which faced a deep recession in the 1980s, the scars of which could be felt for many years after.
But the two played a significant role in dragging the Albert Dock out of its slump as wider Liverpool grew in confidence as a destination for the arts and tourism - culminating in Liverpool being awarded European Capital of Culture in 2008. It’s a near 40 year journey taken in tandem which has seen Liverpool’s waterfront transformed, but one that will be coming to an end simultaneously - albeit only temporarily.
The modern identity of the Albert Dock is set to go through a phase of renewal which will soon draw an end to its chapter as an emerging centre for tourism. Tate Liverpool will close its doors for two years on September 16, 2023 and will not reopen until 2025, with the Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum (ISM) set to close in 2024 in a refurbishment set to take two years.
Tate is working with 6a architects to reimagine its spaces to meet the scale and ambition of today’s most exciting artists. It will see aspects of its layout completely transformed, with the organisation running outreach programmes, hosting events and one-off projects at other spaces across the city.
“I view it in the positive sense,” said Helen Legg, director of Tate Liverpool when reflecting on the closing of a chapter for the Albert Dock. “Rather than coming to the end of something, it's more about reconsidering what the Albert Dock can do for the city now and the kinds of stories cultural organisations here can tell.”
She added: “We're proud to be a part of the dock's history and that resurgence of the dock post the [dock strikes and their closure.] We’re happy that we played that part in it.
“When we thought about what we needed to be in the future, one question asked internally was should we move to another part of the city. That was always going to be a serious consideration but it felt this site on the Mersey on the Albert Docks, close to the city centre, amongst other museums, its long history…all added up to a persuasive argument.”
The changes to the Maritime Museum and ISM will also see its gallery spaces reconfigured with the Martin Luther King Jr building forming a new entranceway to the facility. Plans are also in the works by National Museums Liverpool (NML) to produce pedestrian bridges that link the Albert Dock and Canning Dock, with public artworks and displays highlighting the history of the area - large amounts of which are associated with the transatlantic slave trade.
Dr Liz Stewart, who is leading on the dock transformation project for NML, said the current phase for the Albert Dock isn’t necessarily comparable to the 1980s, but that the area “needs to [stay] relevant and keep updating.”
She added: “The Albert Dock is still incredibly popular and particularly a place where tourists know of and really want to visit. [But] I think it is potentially not connected with local people and that's a real shame because it is the city's asset and the people's asset, and that's a gap we'd like to be able to bridge.”
This will be one of the main focuses of the Canning Dock project, with a consultation exercise to take place on April 5 at Museum of Liverpool. The event will be held to gather public thoughts on a footbridge, public spaces and potential experiences of the south dry dock.
For Dr Stewart, the closures and redevelopment of the waterfront will be key to engaging with local people, as well as producing more encompassing facilities for those visiting the city.
She said: “There is a necessity to close buildings to move forward. It's always a challenge to do that.
“There is an opportunity for us to build that interest and engagement ready for the reopening and [to be] ready for a new approach. Particularly local people will understand the need for that. It will be developed through coproduction [and] community groups.
“The co-production [of the Canning Dock project] is one of the ways that we are being relevant and responding to community needs.”
There is similar optimism within Tate Liverpool as it looks to create new openings in the city amid its closure. Helen Legg said the organisation is “going to be engaging with communities that don't think about coming to the Royal Albert Dock and historically perhaps haven't visited Tate," with its Art Explora project already visiting school children and taking contemporary art across the city region.
Helen added: “We’re putting a lot of effort into trying to get some people to reconsider and make it clear to them that there are things for them on the dock. When you close it is not ideal for people who love to visit the building but it also gives us opportunities to go out and visit communities who don't typically visit.
“We've really got the opportunity to think about what doesn't happen inside these four walls. It’s a different opportunity to work with audiences in their own communities rather than asking them to come to the Royal Albert Dock in that closure period.”
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