Southampton City Council (SCC) has revealed plans for a new visitor attraction commemorating the story of the Titanic disaster as the first stage of a project to establish a £28m heritage centre in the UK city.

A stage one application for funding has already been submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund to contribute towards the cost of the £15m Titanic Story scheme, which will aim to illustrate the importance of Southampton's maritime history. The new heritage centre will be developed in two phases, with the first Titanic Story stage including exhibition spaces, learning spaces and an introductory exhibition to phase two, as well as catering, retail and reception facilities.

SCC is currently seeking an architect-led design team, exhibition design, quantity surveying and project management to help deliver the project, which will include the conversion of the city's former magistrate's courts. Applications for interested companies and individuals are being invited until 21 January. It is expected that the first phase of the new heritage attraction will be completed in 2012, marking the centenary anniversary of the Titanic disaster.

The proposals are the third Titanic-based attraction plans to be unveiled in past two months. In November, Cedar Bar Entertainment announced that it was building a $25m (£16.8m) Titanic attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, US, while construction on a £97m Titanic attraction is expected to begin next month in Belfast, Northern Ireland.