A QUESTION mark is hanging over ambitious plans to update and expand Windermere Steamboat Museum.

The multi-million pound scheme to create a new visitor centre and display areas for the museum’s rare and historic vessels are to be scaled back because of the recession.

The organisation behind the venture, The Lakeland Arts Trust, confirmed it would not be seeking Heritage Lottery Funding this autumn.

It has ended a search for a European architect to design the new museum and would instead consider designs for a smaller scale option.

Plans to expand the museum were first announced early in 2008 by trust director Edward King – describing the project as ‘a big hill to climb’.

Trust spokeswoman Jeanette Edgar this week said: “HLF grants require match funding from private and other organ-isations but the economic climate has made it difficult to secure this so we have decided not to apply this time.”

She declined to reveal how much lottery funding was needed to go ahead with the full-scale project, but admitted it was a ‘significant amount’, running to several millions.

“Everything is under review,” said Ms Edgar. “It may be that we will not proceed with such a large project, but do something on a smaller footprint that could be extended later.”

She said restoration work on the museum’s collection would not be affected by the funding crisis and the trust would push ahead with recruiting an experienced boatbuilder to fill the three-year conservation workshop manager post.

Historians consider the museum to have one of the world’s most important collections of vessels generic to one location – including the oldest mechanically-powered boat, the UK’s first twin screw steam yacht, the oldest boat on the Lloyds register and one of the first motorboats.

It was founded in the 1970s by buil-der George Pattinson.