A public exhibition for Portland’s proposed ‘Eden Project’ went on display
A public exhibition for Portland’s proposed ‘Eden Project’ was met with an enthusiastic response, with around 500 people attending the first session.
The proposed attraction will be set in Bower’s Quarry and Jordan’s mine, and will carry an important message about biodiversity, as well as celebrating the area’s Jurassic heritage.
According to organisers it will be markedly different from the existing Eden project – visitors will be taken on a journey into a “brilliant, surprising and utterly insane underground world”.
Local residents of Portland, said: “The whole idea is terrific – a museum under the cricket ground is so incredible to conceive – a lot of people have never seen Jordan’s mine underground.”
“It’s a wonderful idea and will bring in jobs.
“We are concerned about traffic but organisers say they’re looking at having electric buses bringing people up from Osprey Quay via the back road.”
The project team has appointed transport management company, Systra, to advise on the proposals.
Systra said: “We’ve come up with solutions to reduce congestion – for example creating a park and ride transport hub at Osprey Quay.
“People won’t arrive all at once -The plan is for the attraction have a booking system to make sure arrivals and departures are staggered, as well as limiting traffic during peak times.”
Creative developers with the Eden design team were excited to share their vision. : “We want to take people on an insane theatre experience.
“It will be a lot of fun – we’ve got a really serious message about biodiversity but our idea isn’t to be prescriptive or scary – we want people to leave thinking, ‘I’m part of a community, this is what I can do.’”
“It will be like exploring a lost world – we want to take people on a story to the centre of the Earth.
“The project will not only regenerate the quarry, it will also see the gardens being beautifully restored.”
“Today’s event has had fabulous feedback – the project is an opportunity to bring young and older people together on an adventure.”
Source: Dorset Echo