Concorde Visitor Centre plans

27th October 2006

The possibility of a permanent home for Concorde 216 has moved a crucial step nearer with the offer of land at Cribbs Causeway for a visitor centre to house the supersonic airliner. An application for outline planning permission will be submitted shortly to South Gloucestershire Council.

A site has been identified to the south of The Mall at Cribbs Causeway and to the north of Filton runway. Negotiations are now underway with the land-owner, JT Baylis Land Development Partnership.

The visitor centre will be adjacent to the Hollywood Bowl at The Venue, the area of visitor attractions that includes bowling, a fitness club, multi-screen cinema and restaurants. The location provides good access for visitors from the South West, South Wales and the Midlands.

The £12 million visitor centre will be housed in a stylish new building with space to ‘show-off’ the historic 200 feet long airliner plus room for supporting exhibits and displays, a shop and a café. The site includes space for car parking, coach drop-off area as well as easy access for those travelling by public transport or arriving on foot from elsewhere within Cribbs Causeway. As well as providing an all-weather opportunity for the public to see Concorde 216, the new visitor centre could offer a unique venue for special events.

Supporters of the scheme include Airbus UK, At-Bristol, Atkins, JT Baylis & Co, Bristol Aero Collection, Bristol International Airport, British Airways, Rolls-Royce, South Gloucestershire Council and The Mall at Cribbs Causeway. To move the scheme forward a charitable company is in the process of being formed with its trustees being drawn from many of these interested companies and organisations. Once formed, the charitable company will finalise the cost of creating the visitor centre and appoint a project manager and fundraiser.

Concorde 216 made the final flight of any Concorde anywhere in the world in November 2003 when it flew back to Filton, where it was originally constructed. It is currently situated close to the South side of the Filton runway within the aerospace plant.

At present, access to Concorde by visitors is limited, due to the airliner being within an operational factory site and also because it is too near the runway for a building to be erected over it. Volunteers from the Bristol Aero Collection do conduct pre-arranged tours of Concorde 216 for a small number of the public from Wednesday to Sunday each week. The new indoor visitor centre with easy access for the public, without the need for booking in advance, will be of great benefit for visitors, for the volunteer guides and for the long term preservation of the aircraft.