16 years between the laying of the foundation stone in 1982 and the opening in 1998. The Independent explains the delay: "The reason it has taken so long to build ... has relatively little to do with the competence, or otherwise, of architect and contractors. The project has been toyed with by successive governments. The building was designed for a different site in Bloomsbury. Time was wasted when it had to be redesigned to fit the eventual site alongside St Pancras Station. Successive governments have trimmed the budget. Each time they have done so, Colin St John Wilson and his team have had to redesign parts of the building."
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
British Library
Commemorated ati
British Library- Foundation Stone
The British Library H.R.H. The Prince of Wales unveiled this stone 7 Decembe...
Opening of the British Library
This inscription is opposite the entrance, below the Shakespeare statue.
Other Subjects
St Mary Aldermanbury church
This church, destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666 and rebuilt by Wren in 1676 was damaged in WW1 and then gutted in WW2, and then left roofless waiting for demolition - Londonist has a photo. On 5 ...
2 memorials
Grant Museum of Zoology
A natural history museum that is part of University College London. It was established by Robert Edmond Grant (1793 – 1874, anatomist and zoologist) as a teaching collection of zoological specimens...
1 memorial
Sir Henry Wellcome
Born Wisconsin, USA, moved to London in 1880 for business reasons. Pharmacist, founder of the Wellcome Trust and Foundation. His collection of books & artefacts relating to the history of medic...
Person, Benefactor, Industry, Medicine, Museums / Libraries, USA
1 memorial
British Empire Exhibition
The exhibition was held in Wembley Park. It was a showcase of aspects of many of the British colonies at the time. It had 18 million visitors in 1924, but failed to break even. The main stadium was...
1 memorial
Public Record Office
Known as ‘The Strong Box of the Empire’, the Public Record Office was created as a repository for parliamentary records after the 1834 fire which destroyed much of the Palace of Westminster, where ...
1 memorial