A HUGE decommissioned North Sea rig turned art exhibition will finally open in Weston this week after months of delays plagued the project.
The 33-metre high platform, known as See Monster, aims to 'reimagine conversations on climate change' and 'inspire' the next generation.
As part of the government-funded Unboxed: Creativity in the UK festival held across the country this summer, organisers now hope the structure will prove popular enough to claw back some lost support.
It has today been confirmed See Monster will open to the public for 12 hours everyday from Saturday, September 24.
Admission is free and guests will be expected to queue for tickets at the Tropicana.
The attraction will then close after five weeks on November 5.
READ MORE: See Monster delayed, AGAIN
Due to environmental licences and planning conditions, it will begin to be dismantled the following day so that wading birds are not impacted over the winter period.
The repurposed platform's key features will focus entirely on renewable energy, sourcing its power from solar panels, wind turbines, a 10-metre waterfall, solar trees, scales and a planted garden featured throughout.
An amphitheatre will be located at the very top of the structure and will broadcast the shipping forecast as part of its celebration of the weather.
See Monster was originally planned to open in July, ready for the busy summer season, but complications with waste disposal and marine management agreements pushed back its arrival date.
After the 450-tonne platform was craned onto the already assembled legs, a second delay then beset the exhibition. Further health and safety issues meant its revised opening date on the August bank holiday was again forced back.
Now two months later than anticipated, See Monster will be ready for public viewing.
READ MORE: Fears Weston will be UK 'laughing stock' if See Monster delayed until September
The free exhibition was first touted last year to North Somerset Council by organisers New Substance, as drawing more than 200,000 visitors to Weston over a ten-week period in the summer.
The platform will open for 42 days this autumn from 9am to 9pm, and can potentially accommodate 300 people per hour.
This means, due to varying delays, the maximum number of visitors able to climb on board the structure is fixed at 150,000.
But there are concerns See Monster may be subject to brisk autumn storms and poor weather. Its close proximity to the sea may also mean it could momentarily close for health and safety reasons.
READ MORE: See Monster arrives in Weston
In August, political magazine The House reported the Unboxed project - first imagined as the Festival of Brexit in 2018 - has seen just 238,000 visitors across the UK.
The government scheme - which for ten major art programmes including See Monster, cost the taxpayer £120million - was originally expected to see 66million visitors, now just 0.36 per cent of that total have viewed the exhibitions.
Some of the other major art projects displayed included a 'grow your own food' festival in Scotland, and a 'dream machine' in all of the UK's four capitals.
A series of cultural events was also intended to be shaped around the See Monster exhibition at the Tropicana this summer, but many of those events have passed with low visitor numbers.
READ MORE: See Monster plans revealed
Normally held at the Tropicana, the UK's largest indoor ice rink, known as Icescape, is now looking to find an alternative venue this winter too.
North Somerset Council says it will conduct an economic review of See Monster's 'benefits' to the town later this year. This includes officer time spent on the project.
Unboxed has also confirmed the attraction's exact costs will be made available to the public once the project has been completed.
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