British authorities say the cost of repairing the tower that houses London's famous Big Ben has doubled.
FILE - A Monday, June 12, 2017, photo from files showing a man working on scaffolding on the Houses of Parliament in London, as scheduled renovation works continue. British authorities say the cost of repairing the tower that houses Big Ben have doubled. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
Parliamentary authorities said Friday the cost of repairing the Elizabeth Tower is now estimated to be 61 million pounds ($81 million). It was previously estimated at 29 million pounds.
Authorities say the complexity of the project and the scaffolding needed to enable workers to reach heights safely has resulted in increased costs. The last extensive conservation works took place more than 30 years ago.
The works have been controversial because Britain's most famous timekeeper, London's Big Ben bell, will fall silent on all but a few special occasions during the repairs.
The clock tower — also commonly called Big Ben, but formally named the Elizabeth Tower after Queen Elizabeth II — is one of London's most-visited buildings.
LONDON (AP) — David Bowie’s bedroom could soon be London’s newest tourist attraction.
The house where the musician grew from suburban schoolboy to rock ‘n’ roll starman has been bought by a charity that plans to open it to the public.
The Heritage of London Trust said Thursday that the 19th-century railway worker’s cottage in the south London suburb of Bromley will be restored to its 1960s decor and open to the public next year.
Visitors will be able to visit the 9-foot by 10-foot (2.7-meter by 3-meter) bedroom, “where a spark became a flame,” the charity said. The trust hasn't said how much it paid for the house.
Bowie, born David Jones, lived in the house from 1955, when he was 8, until 1967, when he was a 20-year-old working musician hungry for fame.
Geoffrey Marsh, co-curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s hit 2013 exhibition “David Bowie Is," said the house is where "Bowie evolved from an ordinary suburban schoolboy to the beginnings of an extraordinary international stardom.
“As he said, ‘I spent so much time in my bedroom, it really was my entire world. I had books up there, my music up there, my record player.'"
From Bromley, Bowie went on a creative journey that took him to Philadelphia, Berlin and New York, through eye-popping style changes and musical genres from folk-rock to glam, soul, electronica and new wave. His songbook includes classics such as “Space Oddity,” “Changes,” “Life on Mars,” “Starman,” “Young Americans” and “Heroes.”
The house project, backed by Bowie’s estate, has received a 500,000 pound ($670,000) charity grant and is seeking donations from the public. The heritage trust aims to open the house in late 2027 for public visits and creative workshops for children.
The announcement came as fans mark a decade since Bowie’s death at age 69 on Jan. 10, 2016, two days after the release of his final album, “Blackstar.”
A decade on, Bowie’s cultural legacy in music, style and design continues to inspire. His 90,000-item archive opened to the public last year at the V&A Museum's David Bowie Centre in east London.
George Underwood, a childhood friend, said that the house was where “we spent so much time together, listening to and playing music.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say David’s music saved them or changed their life,” he said in a statement. “It’s amazing that he could do that and even more amazing that it all started here, from such small beginnings, in this house. We were dreamers, and look what he became.”
FILE - Rock star David Bowie attends a press conference in Los Angeles, C.A. on March 16, 1990. (AP Photo/Marilyn Weiss, File)
