Good Venue Guide 35: Liverpool Tate Gallery
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Brief history: a direct off-shoot of the London original, it opened its doors 10 years ago and has already welcomed over 5 million visitors. Strongly backed at the time by Michael Heseltine, the opening of the Tate was an integral part of the restoration of Liverpool's docks during the 1980s. A regional version of the Tate was always planned, and building in the inner-city areas of Liverpool had the double attractions of being both geographically central and socially laudable.
The building: started its life in the city's Albert Docks as a warehouse for goods from the Far East. The imposing red brick building stood derelict for years until the Eighties regeneration. Facing the docks on one side and the Mersey on the other, the gallery is part of the largest group of Grade 1 listed buildings in the country. Once the home of Richard and Judy and other TV alumni, the Albert Docks are now the centre of the new Liverpool. The building has recently undergone a pounds 6.96m redevelopment programme, opening again this week. Architects Michael Wilford and Partners devised a scheme in which the whole previously derelict top floor could be converted, creating new display space. The new Liverpool Tate uses 30 per cent more of the original building, allowing for the display of key works from the National Collection of Modern Art. It also includes an auditorium, seminar room, education suite, information area and a new cafe.
Landmark exhibitions: Paula Rego, Barbara Hepworth, Roy Lichtenstein.
Current events: Artranspennine98, a special exhibition of international installation art, including Christine Borland, today to 16 Aug. Entry to special exhibitions is pounds 3 (pounds 1 concs), otherwise free. Information on 0151 709 3223.
Getting there: a 10-minute, Mersey-bound walk down the hill from Liverpool Lime Street station.
Where to meet: new cafe/bar, imaginatively called Taste.
Cost of a glass of wine: pounds 2.25.
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