A multi-million pound manufacturing and research centre and underwater visitor attraction will be opening in Fort William on 1 June.

Don McGregor, managing director of Stenmar Engineering's Underwater Centre on the shores of Loch Linnhe, has transformed a neighbouring waste water treatment plant into a 1.4m litre pool, the centrepiece of the Ocean Frontier development.

The project combines the use of the pool as an underwater sonar development and diver training centre with a unique visitor experience.

The realism of the testing and training facilities will be enhanced by the pool being filled with water and marine species from the loch. It will also house a selection of underwater exhibits, including the world's largest diving bell from HMS Challenger, a shipwreck, an offshore oil well head and remotely operated vehicles.

The Underwater Centre currently offers training for divers in the oil, defence and fishing industries, but with the opening of Ocean Frontier, visitors will be able to see the divers at work.

Attractions will include a theatrical diving show, based around the marine exhibits, the operation of remote controlled vehicles using sonar and manipulators to take underwater videos and the possibility of joining a training dive in the pool.

Also available, from mid-April, will be the opportunity to travel on the centre's two-man Russian submarine, Morzh. A trip aboard the vessel will offer the chance to travel to the bottom of Loch Linnhe to see divers at work, explore the seabed wrecks and view the marine life of the area.

The centre additionally provides a restaurant, a Waterbabies nursery for children of six months to six years and Waterworld, for children up to 14 -years-old and offering computers, games and a library.

McGregor said: The commercial side of the business attracts divers from all over the world and around 60 per cent of visitors to the centre come from overseas. That in itself is a boost to Fort William but many local people and tourists do not know what is happening here. I hope Ocean Frontier will be a big draw to the Lochaber area and I believe visitors will experience something they can't get anywhere else in the UK.

Finance for the Ocean Frontier project is being obtained from various sources, including Lochaber Enterprise which provided £718,000 towards the £2.2m cost. Included in this is European Regional Development Fund assistance in the shape of £62,000 from the Highlands & Islands Enterprise Activities programme. The directors of the company and Bank of Scotland Business Banking have also provided funding. Details: www.theunderwatercenter.com