Jewish Heritage Report
Vol. I, Nos. 3-4 / Winter 1997-98
Manchester Holocaust Center

£2 Million Plan for Manchester Holocaust Center

Plans for a £2 million independent Holocaust memorial center in Manchester came closer to fruition after a meeting between historian Bill Williams, the driving force behind the project, and Marta Maratchi, chairman of trustees of the Manchester Jewish Museum. However, proposals to build the center on the museum site at Cheetham Hill Road have now been abandoned. A framework for cooperation between the museum and the proposed center was agreed to, but the Center will have its own management structure with Mr. Williams as chairman of the steering committee. Former representative council president Sir Sidney Hamburger is to be the president of the project.

Mr. Williams quit as a trustee of the museum earlier in 1997 over the lack of progress in establishing a Holocaust memorial in the city. However, he is delighted by this decision. "We can now look for an appropriate site and also put in our bids for National Lottery and Millennium grants. We will need a minimum of £2 million to be viable," he said. The exact figure would depend on where the center, provisionally called the Shoah Centre, is located Among sites under consideration are several local synagogues where membership has declined in recent years. In the joint statement by Mr. Williams and the museum, it was agreed he will remain as the museum's honorary president and historical adviser, but will not return as a trustee.

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Updated: 23-July-98