Work is due to begin shortly on the internal fit-out of the £22m National Maritime Museum Cornwall (NMMC) in Falmouth.

Due to open in June, the museum will form the centrepiece of a £27m development on three acres of derelict harbour front. The scheme will include cafés, shops, restaurants set around a public square with a capacity for 4,000 people, created for concerts, exhibitions and major water sports events.

The aim of the NMMC is to promote an understanding of boats and their place in people's lives as well as to inspire new boat design. To this end, the museum will feature nine galleries with a range of interactive displays. Changing displays from the National Small Boat Collection, the collection of 150 vessels currently in storage at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, will also be on show. The museum will also work with Falmouth Marine school to run training courses on traditional boat building skills.

The museum is supported by a £11.3m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £6m from the South West of England Regional Development Fund, £3.3m from the European Regional Development Fund, as well as individual sponsors and donations.

Predicted to receive 180,000 visitors a year, the museum is expected to further increase the attraction of Cornwall, which already boasts the Tate St Ives, and the hugely successful Eden Project, which opened last year.