Plans for a new historical resource centre have been approved and construction will begin this summer.
The centre, entitled The Keep, will also be home to the University of Sussex’s Special Collections. Once completed, The Keep will be open to public in 2013. The £19 million centre will be situated off-campus at Woollards Field, near Falmer.
The Brighton and Hove City Council approved the building plans on Friday 17 December 2010.
The project involves the University of Sussex as well as Brighton and Hove City Council and East Sussex County Council.
One community services member at East Sussex County Council, Councillor Bob Tidy said: “The Keep will be the new home for over 900 years of historical resources and collections of local, national and international importance.
“It will house over six miles of archives including written records, maps, plans, films, photographs, prints and drawings. Councils up and down the country are looking at all their planned new schemes and only putting forward those they believe are their key priorities and for which funding has already been planned.
“The Keep falls into that category and I’m delighted that it has been given the go-ahead.”
Fiona Courage, the Special Collections Manager commented that the Special Collections’ new home would ensure that the “internationally acclaimed Special Collections will be stored for the first time in appropriate environmental conditions.”
