The U.K. Heritage Lottery Fund has pledged £13 million ($25 million) toward restoring Cutty Sark, in a dry dock at Greenwich, the last 19th-century clipper threatened with rot and chemical decay.
Under terms of the award, the Cutty Sark Trust must raise an additional £12 million ($23 million) before work begins.
According to Richard Doughty, Cutty Sark Trust CEO, plans include halting rot, treating timbers and replacing the deck.
Doughty said work would start in October 2006. The ship would close to the public for at least three months at the end of 2006 and open again in 2007.
