Think Tank for the millennium

The £114m complex has a five-storey movie theatre

The biggest science attraction in the West Midlands is preparing to open.

The £114m Millennium Point complex in Birmingham is the size of six football pitches.

It has been designed by the same architects who created the popular Eden Project in Cornwall, Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners.

Millennium Point includes a new science museum called Think Tank, which has an Imax movie theatre with screens as high as a five-storey house.

Displays focus on the past and the future

The museum plans to show a special 3D film currently being shot by astronauts and cosmonauts on board the international space station.

But while the old Science Museum was free, a family of four will have to pay £30 to get into the Think Tank.

The government subsidises several museums in London, but has refused to help new initiatives like Think Tank, which is located outside London.

Managers at Think Tank have said they will try to persuade the government to change that policy.

Workmen and designers are now putting the final touches on the massive project, which is due to open on 29 September.