Google has given £550,000 to the development of Bletchley Park. The money will go towards the match funding that the Bletchley Park Trust needs to unlock a £4.6m grant that the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced in October.
The trust is planning a £15m redevelopment of the site, the birthplace of the modern computer and home to the Enigma machines. This Google and HLF money is for the first phase of the project, which will cost £7.4m.
“The Google money means we are significantly closer and are making good progress to raising the £7.4m,” said Kelsey Griffin, director of museum operations and media relations at Bletchley Park.
Griffin said it was possible that work could start in the spring. Bletchley Park covers 26 acres and contains more than 70 buildings, many of them derelict.
Alan Turing worked at Bletchley Park to create the machine that cracked the German Enigma Code and the current museum houses a statue of him as well as the machine itself.
Bletchley Park will be hosting the 2013 LGBT History Month Pre-Launch next November.