The National Portrait Gallery in London, the museum of portraits of the most important people in British history, has bought a former underground Victorian toilet block in central London with the intention of converting it into an exhibition space. That has The Art Newspaper reported Friday.
The museum bought an empty ticket kiosk in front of the museum for 3 million pounds (3.4 million euros). The museum was especially attracted to the hidden space under the kiosk: a former underground Victorian public toilet, which was closed in the 1970s. At the time, this 140-metre space below street level had 13 urinals and 12 toilets for men and only five toilets for women.
Underground
The museum has ambitious plans for the purchase. Depending on the building permit, the kiosk will be demolished and replaced by a new entrance to an underground exhibition space.
The museum will not start the renovation until the renovation and rebuilding of the main building has been completed. The museum closed in 2020 and is scheduled to reopen at the end of June.
Len Blavatnik, a Ukrainian-born American-British businessman and one of the richest people on earth, paid for the purchase of the toilet block.
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