Museum of Science and Industry

1983 - Open for business

The Museum opened at Liverpool Road Station on 15 September 1983. Its first major gallery was the Power Hall, shown above during the installation of the working steam engines and on the opening day. We are about to refurbish the Power Hall, supported by a grant of £148,000. This work will be completed in summer 2005.

1984 - An electrifying development

Work began on the development of the National Electricity Gallery, co-funded by Greater Manchester County Council and the Electricity Council. The central exhibit, a turbo-generator from the Back o' th' Bank Power Station in Bolton, had be craned in through the roof in parts and reassembled. The Gallery opened in March 1986.

1986 - Adding air and space

In December 1985, the Museum took over the running of the former Greater Manchester Air and Space Museum (now known as the Air & Space Hall) from Manchester City Council. The first major new exhibit was the nose cone of a Trident jet airliner, shown here about to enter the building.

1987 - Saving the station

The Station buildings all needed repairing to make them fit for museum purposes and public access. The restoration of the former shops and carriage shed (now called the Station Building) was a big challenge. This structure was so unsound that it had to be completely dismantled and rebuilt. Two new galleries, Underground Manchester and The Making of Manchester, opened in 1988.

1988 - Ramping it up

A major project to renovate the Lower Byrom Street Warehouse (now known as the Main Building) began. Only the ground floor had previously been open because new means of vertical access were necessary. A slot was cut through the upper floors to enable the installation of a ramp. In November, the Xperiment! Hands-on science centre opened on the top floor.

1989 - With a little help from our Friends

From the beginning, the Museum Friends helped to bring the site to life by running steam train rides at weekends. In 1989, they launched a major project to build a full-size replica of the Planet locomotive, which came into service on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in December 1830. British Engine Boiler & Insurance sponsored the project.

1990 - Museum of the Year

The Museum was joint winner (with the Imperial War Museum) of the Museum of the Year award, in recognition of its seven years of progress. To support Manchester's bid for the 2000 Olympic Games, the Museum mounted a temporary exhibition about the history of sport in Manchester. This attracted an official visit from the Princess Royal, a supporter of the bid.

1991 - The rebirth of Planet

A new section of the Electricity Gallery, Energy for the Future, opened in February. The last major part of the power story jigsaw fell into place in November when the Gas Gallery opened. On the steam power front, the construction of the replica Planet locomotive made visible progress.

1992 - Restoration, restoration, restoration

The most important of the Liverpool Road Station buildings is the 1830 Warehouse, the world's first railway warehouse. Badly derelict by 1983, the 1830 Warehouse needed major restoration. Work began in 1991 and the first restoration phase was completed in 1992. When the third and final phase was completed in 1997, the total cost stood at £5.5 million.

1994 - Drama and flight

To support Manchester's year as City of Drama, the Museum hosted a number of performances and drama-related events. A new exhibition, Crossing the Atlantic, opened in the Air & Space Gallery in June. This was the first of a planned series of new displays on the theme of flight.

1996 - To boldly go

The touring Star Trek exhibition was the first real 'blockbuster' exhibition to occupy the Changing Exhibition Gallery. To meet the need for temporary gallery assistants, the Museum held auditions, which attracted Star Trek enthusiasts, complete with costumes and make-up.

1997 - Our first Lottery win

The new Textiles Gallery, Fibres, Fabrics and Fashion, opened in September. Its development was made possible by the award of a grant of £400,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund during its first round of grants in 1995. A pilot Science Night for 10 to 11 year olds, which included a sleep-over in Xperiment, was a great success.

1998 - The Digital Summer

To mark the 50th anniversary of the development of the world's first stored program computer in Manchester in Manchester, a series of Digital Summer events took place across Manchester. The Museum opened its Futures Gallery, featuring a unique working exhibit of the 'Baby' computer as its star exhibit. The 1830 Warehouse also hosted Chorus, an art installation by Dominique Blain.

1999 - Big, bold and dangerous

The Museum hosted its most popular special exhibition yet, Dinosaurs - Big, Bold and Dangerous! The animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex was displayed in the Power Hall because it was too tall for the Special Exhibition Gallery. Work began on the £14 million Final Phase developments, supported by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £8.8 million.

2000 - The Final Phase kicks in

The Final Phase building works in the Main Building and Colonnade were completed. This work also included the completion of the network of smooth paths across the Museum site, together new external signage. The new facilities included the improved entrance, shop and orientation area, together with the Learning Centre and Restaurant.

2001 - A collections superstore

In September, Baroness Blackstone, Minister of State for the Arts, opened the Collections Centre. This was the first on-site resource centre for object and archive collections in the UK. The closure of the Lancashire Mining Museum in Salford led to the transfer of its collections to MSIM, creating the potential for future coal mining displays.

2002 - Showing the Commonwealth spirit

The Museum supported the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games by mounting a temporary exhibition, Spirit of the Games. The exhibition featured costumes and props from the opening ceremony, together with video footage of the ceremony, the Baton Run and the behind-the-scenes work of volunteers. The new Xperiment Gallery opened.

2003 - Free for all

The introduction of free admission for all in December 2001 began to pay dividends. Annual visitor figures for the financial year 2002-03 reached a new peak of 435,000, exceeding 400,000 for the first time. The Special Exhibition Gallery hosted two touring exhibitions created by the Natural History Museum, Myths and Monsters and Predators.

2004 - A Titanic year

Our newest gallery, Manchester Science, opened on 1 April. A seven-month run of Titanic: the Artefact Exhibition began in June 2004. This was the longest-running special exhibition that the Museum has staged and one of the most popular. It contributed to the Museum achieving a record visitor total of 492,000 for the financial year 2004-05.

2005 - Riot of Steam

In September 2005, the Museum celebrated the 175th anniversary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with a Riot of Steam festival. Working replicas of the Rainhill Trials locomotives Rocket, Sans Pareil and Novelty joined the Museum's own replica Planet in a procession around the site.

2006 - Going EnviroMental

In October the Museum opened a new interactive gallery called Wasted? The Trouble with Rubbish and staged the week-long EnviroMental event. Wasted was funded by the SITA Trust, through the Landfill Communities Fund, and developed in collaboration with the Life Science Centre (Newcastle), ThinkTank (Birmingham), the Science Museum (London) and At-Bristol.

2007 - Invasion of the Daleks 

The Museum adopted a new name and brand - MOSI - and opened the Connecting Manchester Gallery. The special exhibition Doctor Who - Up-Close had a record-breaking run. It became MOSI’s longest-running and most popular special exhibition, attracting 226,246 visitors over nine months. Another record, a Guinness world record, was set in August when the largest-ever gathering of Daleks took place at MOSI.