Turner Contemporary to open in April

The long-awaited Turner Contemporary arts centre in Margate is to open to the public in April.

The construction of the site started in 2008, and is estimated to have cost about £17.5 million. Sir David Chipperfield, who worked on the award-winning River and Rowling Museum in Henley-on-Thames, designed the building.

The initial plan was for the building to be designed by the  Norwegian architects Snøhetta and Spence, but this fell through. 

Margate coast painted by Turner

The opening programme at the arts centre will be called "You Are Here", and will take place between  April 16 and 25. The celebrations include music, dance, art and live performance. Commissioned performers include Cocos Lovers, Samba Pelo Mar and the Kent Youth Band.

Today the centre director, Victoria Pomeroy, told Andrew Marr on BBC Radio 4, "the Turner Contemporary is a project to regenerate Margate and the East Kent region".

The arts centre is named after the artist J.M.W. Turner who spent a lot of time in Margate. Many of his key works have included Margate and the North Kent coast.

"The skies over Thanet are the loveliest in all of Europe", is one of the artist's famous quotes.