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Work on a signature project to commemorate the Titanicis set to get under way next month after Belfast City Council gave the project the green light today.

The backing of councillors means all stakeholders have now rubber-stamped plans for a five-storey tourist attraction on the derelict shipyard where the famous liner was built almost 100 years ago.

The total cost of the project will be in the region of £100 million (€110 million).

The council has pledged £10 million towards the project, with the Northern Ireland Executive, Belfast Harbour Commissioners and a private developer providing the rest of the funding.

With all the partners keen to have the centre opened ahead of the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking in April 2012, engineers will go on site in the coming weeks to begin preparatory work.

The project will create 600 construction jobs, with the finished centre requiring 250 permanent staff.

Today’s decision by the council’s Strategic Policy and Resources committee will go before all councillors for ratification at the start of next month.

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board has claimed the new centre will rival Paris’s Eiffel tower and Sydney’s Grand Opera House when it comes to internationally recognised iconic structures.

One of the main attractions inside will be a 65-seater “four dimensional” flying theatre that will take passengers on a virtual dive down to the liner’s final resting place at the bottom of the Atlantic.

The rest of the centre will be split into themed galleries, each designed to take visitors through a stage in the Titanicstory. Halfway through this, the experience ventures outdoors to a balcony overhanging the dock the liner was launched from in 1911.

An integral part of the project will be a memorial to the 1,500 people who died when the Titanicwent down on her maiden voyage.

Away from the tourist attraction, the top level of the building will house a 750-seater banqueting suite, where a number of Titanic-themed evenings will be staged.

On the bottom floor there will be space reserved for commercial premises, with the hope that restaurants and cafes can sustain a night-time trade in the illuminated centre.

Based on the logo of the vessel’s owners - White Star Line - the building will be in the shape of the star, with each point designed to look like the bow of the famous ship. 

PA