Paul McCartney Hails 'Extraordinary' 100,000 sq ft Beatles Museum for 2028

By Daniel Okafor

Liverpool will open a 100,000 sq ft Beatles visitor attraction in 2028, a project Paul McCartney has called "extraordinary".

The plan gives the Beatles Story, the museum founded at the Royal Albert Dock in 1990, a vast new home. Ownership passes to Apple Corps, the Beatles' own company. That makes the Beatles Story the band's first official fan experience in their home city.

Not a modest refurbishment, then. A hundred thousand square feet is roughly the footprint of a department store, given over entirely to four men from Merseyside.

What did the key figures say?

McCartney's verdict was short and total: "extraordinary."

Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, backed the scheme in equally direct terms, saying it has "the kind of ambition I want to see more of across Britain."

Both quotes come from the project's announcement, reported by the Guardian on 20 October.

What changes for the museum?

• Scale. The Beatles Story moves from its 1990 dockside site to a 100,000 sq ft building.
• Ownership. Apple Corps (the company the Beatles founded to control their recordings and business affairs) takes official ownership.
• Design. Liverpool's second-tallest building gets a Yellow Submarine makeover as part of the plans.
• Status. The attraction becomes the band's first official fan experience in their home city.

The shift from independent dockside museum to corporate-owned flagship matters. For 38 years the Beatles Story traded on proximity and memorabilia; from 2028 it trades on the band's own imprimatur.

Does Liverpool need another Beatles attraction?

The city has never lacked for Fab Four commerce. What it lacked was an experience the band's own company controlled.

Apple Corps taking ownership closes that gap. Whether official status lifts the visitor numbers enough to fill 100,000 sq ft is a question 2028 will answer, and Burnham has already staked a regional argument on it.

The 2028 opening will test whether institutional ambition, in McCartney's word, proves extraordinary in practice as well as in prose.