The Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope, today unveiled plans showing what St Leonard's Hospice will be like once its £2m extension is finished.

Sue Spence (left), clinical care services manager, and Kate Hodge, the senior nurse at St Leonard's Hospice, examine the model of the new in-patient annexe.

But the ceremony at Bishopthorpe Palace was tinged with sadness as news broke of the death of Peter Marshall, architect of the original hospice in Tadcaster Road.

Mr Marshall, who had been due to attend today's ceremony, died at York District Hospital yesterday, after a short illness. He was 72.

Speaking from his home in Bishopthorpe today, daughter Vivienne said he would be "very sadly missed".

But she added he would have been thrilled to know that plans for the expanded hospice were taking shape.

She said: "He designed the original York hospice, the first in the area, and he'd been very much involved ever since. He was still a trustee, and it was very important to him."

Supporters and friends of the hospice gathered at the palace just before 11am today for the unveiling of the plans.

They show a striking three-storey, round-ended annexe linked to the existing hospice.The extension will mean the number of beds at the hospice being increased from 16 to 20 - most of them in single rooms with en-suite facilities.

Architects Allen Todd designed the annexe so all the patients' bedrooms will have balconies and terraces overlooking gardens or the open countryside.

The present buildings will also be transformed. There will be a children's room and family room for visiting relatives, outpatients will for the first time have their own clinic and there will be new space for physiotherapy and complementary therapies.

A day hospice will be created in the main building, so that inpatients can use the facilities there as well. And the present day hospice will become an education centre.

Unveiling the plans outside Bishopthorpe Palace today Dr Hope, the hospice's president, said: "I know from my visits to St Leonard's Hospice that it provides a vital and compassionate service for the people of York and the surrounding area.

"I warmly welcome these development plans and I urge everyone to support the hospice's Millennium Appeal."

Trevor Copley, the hospice's chairman, added: "We have known for a long time that, to keep up with the rapid advances in specialist palliative care, we needed to develop and expand our services.

"These plans are very exciting, and I believe they will enhance the wonderful buildings we already have."

Unveiling of the plans comes just days after the Evening Press' Millennium Appeal, run in partnership with the hospice, smashed through £500,000.

It paves the way for fundraisers at the hospice to apply to charitable trusts and other organisations for grants to help us reach our £2 million target before the end of the Year 2000.

Don't miss Wednesday's Evening Press for a free, eight-page St Leonard's Hospice supplement with more details of the plans.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.