Kent County Council scrap ambitious scheme as costs rise by £20m to £50m.
Kent county council has pulled the plug on an ambitious contemporary art gallery scheme after costs soared.
The council backed out of the Turner Centre in Margate after it emerged the cost of the scheme had risen by £20m to £50m.
The sail-like building, designed by architect Snohetta and Spence, was supposed to rise elegantly out of the harbour at Margate and house three floors of contemporary art.
Some local people had questioned building it in the sea, where the North Sea meets the Channel and the Thames estuary. Others blame the project's demise on local politics.
Project architect Stephen Spence said: "It all smacks of local politics. It's a lack of long term ambition for short term political gain."
