The Rose Theater Trust is readying the appointment of a project director for a museum to be built on the site where Shakespeare worked as an actor.

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The site was discovered in 1989 during construction work in London's Bankside district and many artifacts connected with the theater were excavated at that time. Since the discovery a volunteer effort in the form of the trust has worked to raise money for the construction of a museum for display of the artifacts, with such theater luminaries as Judi Dench, Peter Hall and Susannah York leading the effort.

Tony Toller, director of the Rose Theater Trust, said a manager will be announced in March for the $9.5 million project to oversee further excavation at the site and the development of an exhibition facility. He said the person to be named "will have to combine the talents of an archaeologist, engineer and marketing man."

Scenes in the hit movie, "Shakespeare in Love," were set at the Rose Theater. The theater associated with Shakespeare in his play-writing years, The Globe, has been rebuilt in replica on its original Southwark site through the efforts of the late American actor Sam Wanamaker.