Getting there: there is a tram from Piccadilli Station in Manchester to Eccles at frequent intervals. The nearest station is Harbour City but, unless the weather is really foul, it is far nicer to walk from Salford Quays Station beside the water. I shall put a photo taken en route with the War Museum page as this is just across a rather splendid footbridge from the Lowry.
Actually I am not quite sure now whether the Lowry opened at the very end of the 20th century but it was certainly erected with the most modern ideas for the 21st century.
In addition to the spacious galleries which will exhibit both the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions, there are two theatres, a restaurant, a snack bar and a drinks bar.
I have only experienced the galleries so far and it was a great experience. The exhibition, called 'A City's Pride', which is on now [21 August 2002 until 22 September 2002] is a spectacular collection of much of Lowry's work including many sketches which will not be on permanent display. Anyone who can get there before 22 September is strongly advised not to miss it but there can be little doubt that the permanent collection will be pretty impressive.
The centre itself is a striking edifice with an interior the size of five football pitches. It is a startling display of stainless steel and glass. However, although it may be ultracritical, I found two things about it disappointing. If there is any air conditioning it was not working very well on a very hot day and the atmosphere was pretty stifling. The other thing was the lack of any notices in languages other than English. The Miró Fondación in Barcelona is quite a bit older and not only is far more multilingual with its notices but it supplies headphones with a fair choice of languages which will plug it at various points so that the visitor can get an interesting commentary in her/his own language on what s/he is actually looking at. I had hoped that we were catching up a bit here!
In spite of these reservations I have to give it the highest recommendation. There is no charge for admission as such but they ask for donations of £3 per person or £5 for families when you get your free admission tickets.