Continuum Leading Attractions is teaming up with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to build and operate a new visitor centre in the heart of Sherwood Forest Country Park, the home of the legendary Robin Hood.

The RSPB – one of the UK’s leading nature conservation charities – and Continuum have been selected by Nottinghamshire County Council for the £5.3m (US$8.3m, €7.4m) investment, which forms part of the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve (NNR).

Realisation of the visitor centre is still a few years away, with the new facility and visitor experience celebrating the woodland, wildlife and heritage of the site, notably the legend of Robin Hood. As part of the agreement with the council, the management contract requires the preferred bidder to deliver on effective conservation of the country park within the wider NNR.

The council will now enter exclusive discussions with the the consortium of Continuum and the RSPB to move towards signing final contracts which will hopefully be completed by the end of September. In the meantime, the council will retain responsibility for the existing visitor facilities until the new visitor centre opens its doors.

“This RSPB-led consortium will breathe new life into Sherwood Forest Country Park and Continuum is delighted to be part of the development for the new visitor centre,” said Kevin Smith, attractions director at Continuum. “The shared expertise across the consortium will deliver a sustainable future for the Sherwood Forest visitor experience.”

The council has been wanting to further capitalise on the popularity of Robin Hood, with long-touted £13m (US$20.2m, €18.2m) plans for a Robin Hood attraction collapsing last year. At the time the council said it was fully committed to building a visitor centre by 2017 “in order to do justice to the legend of Robin Hood and the forest of Nottingham”.