Bristol educational charity and science centre We The Curious has announced that it will not be proceeding with Arc, the glass rooftop viewing cabin experience.
Arc and We The Curious began work exploring the potential of the project together back in 2019. A joint planning application for the project was submitted to Bristol City Council, which was recently granted planning consent.
Arc is a glass viewing cabin which would fly passengers 69 metres into the sky on a 20 minute scenic flight, with the cabin being suspended between two super-strong carbon fibre masts.
However, since 2019, We The Curious was closed for 14 months due to the pandemic, and is currently experiencing another closure following a fire on the roof of the building earlier this year.
Repair work is underway, but there is no set reopening date for the venue yet, following fire damage to the roof itself and further significant water damage to the second floor and building systems.
Donna Speed, Chief Executive for We The Curious, said: “As with many others, it has been a challenging few years; and with the current position that we find ourselves in, facing another unplanned period of closure following the fire, it’s given us cause to pause and reflect on our plans for the next few years."
"Right now, we need to focus on our charitable mission and aims and getting our beautiful venue reinstated and open. This, together with remaining present for our audience during this period of closure need to be a top priority, and is a huge task for our hard-working teams."
"Sadly, this means we’re simply not in a place where we can accommodate any extra risk; so with that in mind, we’ve decided not to pursue the project with Arc at this time."
"It’s a brilliant, innovative concept, and we wish with the Arc team all the very best in their future endeavours.”
Inventor of Arc, Nick Stubbs added: “Since we started developing a fabulous plan of how we would work together to display the science behind the city from close above, We The Curious has had the wholly unexpected and very difficult challenge of a fire following hard on the heels of Covid."
"We want them to get back to their first-class celebration of the world of science and know this is not the time to distract them."
"Inventing is never easy but specialists have proved Arc’s physics, demonstrated that we have a sound business and shown that Arc will attract a third of a million visitors to Bristol adding £13 million to the local economy every year."
"We were greatly encouraged that Bristol councillors at the planning committee voted unanimously to support Arc at We The Curious. We will just have to be patient until we find the right location.”
We The Curious is an educational charity with a vision to build a better world together, where everyone is included, curious and inspired by science.
For more information on supporting We The Curious and to donate, please click here.
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