Decision-making bodies in the City of Helsinki will get a chance to evaluate the realism of estimates contained a study on the proposed Helsinki Guggenheim art museum.
The city’s Culture and Library Board and the directors of the Helsinki City Museum will discuss the proposal for the construction of the proposed museum on Wednesday.
Statements drafted for both bodies by civil servants question the predictions for numbers of visitors contained in the study on the feasibility of the project.
There is great fluctuation in the estimates on the number of foreign visitors: between 170,000 and 362,000 a year.
A statement proposed for the directors of the City Museum states that “calculations of finance are based on expectations for numbers of visitors that are exceptional and challenging in the conditions prevailing in Finland.”
Officials of the City Museum would have liked the study to contain “a more detailed risk analysis”.
The statements of the city officials also suggest that of supporters of the project lack confidence that the state will come up with financing for the project.
The Guggenheim project was openly supported on Thursday by the city’s Real Estate Board, which stated that the museum would enliven the area around Helsinki’s Market Square, and would make the South Harbour a more solid part of the centre of the city.
The Helsinki City Council is to decide on the museum in March.
