Royal Institution may sell its Mayfair Home
Poorly timed and expensive refurbishment may just have made it all pretty for the next owner
The Royal Institution in Mayfair has been a centre for scientific research and communication for over two centuries. Previously the workplace of such scientific greats as Michael Faraday and George Porter, the Ri now focuses on outreach, running courses, book clubs, school events, and the famous Christmas Lectures, in their 18th century building.
But an incredibly badly timed £22m refurbishment back in 2008, combined with years of mismanagement, has left the charity in financial turmoil. The true extent of the crisis was unknown to the general public until last week, when it was reported in The Times that the charity had secretly put the Mayfair site on the market for upwards of £60, in an attempt to recoup its mounting debts.
The Institution has insisted that the selling of the building is just one of many options being considered, but nevertheless outrage anddismay have been expressed by some members of the scientific community and the general public. Twitter campaigns have sprung up to ‘save the Ri’, whilst physicist Jim Al-Khalili has commented that ‘it seems crazy that at a time when science and science communication is riding a wave of popularity not seen for generations, we hear that the very epitome of a British scientific institution is under threat.’
