£7m boost for East End gallery and museum

Major developments of two of the East End's greatest cultural landmarks - thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund - were revealed today.

Whitechapel Art Gallery, the capital's most important public modern art venue after Tate Modern, is to almost double its exhibition space.

A £3.28 million Lottery grant announced today means it can expand into a former public library next door.

It will also offer public access to its 100-year-old archive for the first time.

The total cost of the project will be £12.3 million.

Whitechapel was the first British public gallery to show artists such as Picasso, Pollock, Hockney and Gilbert and George.

Meanwhile, the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green has won £3.5 million from the fund to create new galleries and a grand entrance.

The building will be completed 130 years after its builders ran out of funds to complete an ornate facade. The grant will also pay for a new education centre and displays.

Both projects are due for completion by 2007.