[1] The council had planned on selling works from their municipal art collection to fund the museum, but backed down after encountering significant opposition from both within and outside the city.

The original plans included a 3-storey extension to the building, and a water feature running from nearby Watts Park, both of which were scrapped to reduce the cost by £10M to £28M.

The council selected two works to be sold, an oil painting by Alfred Munnings, After the Race (1937),[a] and one of two bronzes by Auguste Rodin, either Eve (1880)[b] or Crouching Woman (1882).

[13] The proposed sale of the artwork had backing from the local paper, the Daily Echo, which had campaigned for three years for the deaccessioning of pieces from the "overflowing" municipal collection.

Councillors from opposition Liberal Democrat and Labour camps described the proposed sale as a "betrayal of public trust" which would damage the reputation of the city's museum.

[14] Alan Whitehead, MP for neighbouring Southampton Test described the proposed sale as an "outstandingly bad idea", which would discourage future donations and bequests to the city and destroy the national standing of its gallery.

[17] Edward Chaney, then Professor of Fine and Decorative Arts at the Southampton Institute (now Solent University), appeared on BBC South and published articles warning of reputational damage to the gallery and the consequent threat to future bequests.

[18][19] Nonetheless, the council voted to proceed with its plans, and in September 2009, they formally approached Baroness Scotland of Asthal, then Attorney General for England and Wales to approve the sale.

"[20][21] The Art Fund, which had previously provided funding towards the acquisition of Bridget Riley's Red Movement (2005)[d] by the city, expressed concern at the proposed sale, wary that it would "set an uncomfortable precedent, stretching the sector's guidelines and effectively sanctioning the disposal of works of art from publicly-owned collections to support other areas of public sector cultural provision".

[22] In November 2009, due to the strong opposition, Southampton City Council placed the proposed art sale on hold to re-evaluate their funding possibilities.

Despite reservations over the appearance of the new pavilion, English Heritage gave their approval for the designs, and final planning permission was granted in September 2010.

Oliver Green, writing for Museums Journal described the shape of the pavilion as echoing the "prows of ocean liners cutting through art deco waves".

And while she mentioned that the motif of following several crew members through the story never quite pans out, she concluded that it was a well-conceived exhibition and that "there can be no better place than Southampton to remember both those who died and those who survived the Titanic's first and final voyage.

He concluded that it would be "a real shame if the project were to falter at this stage", and that further phases of expansion "must surely be good for the city and its future success.

[47] Visitor numbers have continued to fall in subsequent years raising concerns over ongoing funding and long term viability.