Tate Modern extension: Southwark Council to give £1m

Under plans to be rubber-stamped by the borough's cabinet next week, the council will contribute the 'final' £1 million towards the total cost of the £215 million scheme.

"In the 1990s the council contributed the first £1 million of investment into the Tate Modern project to convert the former derelict power station into a major attraction," wrote Cllr Mark Williams in his foreword to the cabinet report.

He continued: "As a direct result of the extension, the new Tate Modern will be a major driver of inward investment and tourism; it will become a focal point for a secondary wave of regeneration and economic growth in and around Southwark and South London, with £5 billion worth of development already underway.

"In order to ensure that the Tate Modern extension project can be completed in 2016, and to realise the substantial economic, educational, and physical benefits arising from the project, the council has pledged to fund the last £1 million of capital works.

Cllr Williams added: "I am excited to announce that the final £1 million of funding will directly deliver one of the most innovative and ambitious features of the new Tate Modern, the Tate learning suites. Occupying magnificent spaces at the heart of the new building, the Tate learning programme will inspire the public through engagement with art, to discuss, participate in and contribute to the broader social issues and debates of our time.

"I now ask cabinet to agree the recommendation laid out in this report and approve the commitment of £1 million towards the final completion of the Tate Modern project.

"This commitment represents our contribution of the first and last million pounds of investment to enable a project which has transformed the position of Southwark on the world stage, and will continue to transform the lives of our residents through direct economic and educational opportunities and the wider physical regeneration of our borough."

Enabling works for the extension started back in 2010 with the expectation that the building would be completed in time for the Olympics in 2012.