Omnibus 170 - January 2006
THE PROSPECT BEFORE US...
The special edition of 'Omnibus' in August 2005 announced the successful Heritage Lottery Fund bid to provide the Museum with a new display hall. This described in some detail what the award means in terms of getting vehicles under cover and the greatly improved standard of presentation. What it did not do was go into detail where the new building will go, nor the other implications for the Museum site as a whole. This article is intended to remedy this omission and bring you up to date with current thinking on timescales.
For the benefit of those not so familiar with the site, 'before' and 'after' plans accompany this article. The 'before' plan is actually as the site was in 2002, the 'after' plan is as we hope it should be by mid-2007. 
A plan of the Museum as it was in 2002, when the planning process began.
A plan of the Museum as it should appear for the start of the 2007 season.
Early on in the planning process it was recognised that to provide a new hall, to accommodate the number of vehicles required, some existing structures would have to go. Equally, it was recognised that to wait for a grant to be approved before clearing the space would have a significant delaying effect on the whole project. Hence the Trustees took the decision to do some enabling work in anticipation of the application being successful. The HLF grant process allows for this but the down side is that if one is not successful all the costs come from your own funds!
Anyway, back to 2002. The first change affecting the site is not shown on the plans. This was the acquisition of the freehold of the site from Bromsgrove District Council and was achieved in mid-2003. This gave greater security for the collection, which is a benefit both in its own right and in giving HLF greater assurance that any money invested in the Museum is for the long term.
As plans for the new building were formulated it became obvious that the prefab in the centre of the site had to go. As this had long been physically deteriorating and failed to adequately store the spares contained within it, the only problem was what to do with its contents. The answer was to buy a 'Blueline' prefabricated building and erect it ourselves behind the Shire Hall. This has already been achieved with the buses parked on the site being moved during the 2002/3 winter, contractors laying a concrete slab in Autumn 2003 and the building being delivered in November 2003. Lots of volunteers put it up over the winter with Peter Murphy masterminding the operation and finishing off the detail. The construction finished in May 2004 with the installation of electric lighting to make it the best lit building on the site. Installation of racking and transfer of spares followed with the prefab being emptied to allow demolition in early August 2005.
Another structure due to go as part of the scheme is the quartet of railway carriages. These have outlived their usefulness and, in their current state of repair, present a very poor first impression to visitors. Similarly needing to be removed is the small storeroom at the end of the 'Terrapin' café and shop building. When the rest of the Terrapin building was refurbished, the storeroom remained untreated and now needs to be removed so that a new access to the Scania Hall can be provided. With the 'Blueline' store rapidly filling with spares it was realised this could not accommodate everything so other solutions were sought. Consequently in early 2005 the decision was taken to install a mezzanine floor above the engineering and woodwork areas in the Shire Hall to provide more storage space. This was largely completed in July so that by the time of writing, November 2005, it was almost full with items from both the carriages and the Terrapin store. By the time you read this, the Terrapin store should have been removed and arrangements should be in place for the disposal of the railway carriages.
With the things in the way gone, one can finally think about the new buildings and changes to the site. Looking at the 'after' plan you will see that the demise of the prefab clears the space where the new hall will go. Its location is determined by a number of factors, including the need to avoid the Severn Trent sewer which runs across the site, the need to retain the café/shop building, avoiding the miniature railway line, and keeping the impact on our neighbours as unobtrusive as possible. As will be seen it is 'L' shaped to fit round the corner of the Scania Hall and has been located to allow a two-metre footpath between it and the café, providing access to toilets and Scania Hall. A new toilet block, incorporating a disabled unit, will be constructed behind the new hall to replace the somewhat inadequate current facilities. The existing gents' toilet will be retained to provide a staff toilet, particularly for engineering staff with dirty hands! With the new hall blocking existing vehicular access to the Scania Hall, a new ramp is to be provided the other side of the café and shop building, permitted by the removal of the store section.
The café and shop building will remain in place but will not have to share space with the small exhibits exhibition. Some refurbishment to increase the kitchen space is planned for this winter. The HLF project will see the main café entrance door move, which it is hoped, will give a better flow for customers and improve disabled access.
The new hall itself will be of standard 'warehouse' design similar to the two existing halls except that the frontage will be brick faced to resemble a Midland Red garage. This should present an impressive facade to those approaching via the main drive.
The HLF scheme changes the entry to the site for visitors and vehicles. With the removal of the carriages, a new access road will be built across the grass overflow car park to allow direct access to the yard in front of the Shire Hall. This will then allow a loop road to be formed in front of the new hall so that service buses arriving on site during event days can do a circuit rather than having to do reversing manoeuvres as at present. Although not part of the HLF project, the intention is to develop the area in front of the new hall as a bus station using street furniture that the Trust already owns. Finally, the admission kiosk will be moved to the position shown. This avoids visitors having to cross the miniature railway to gain access to the site and brings them in opposite the new hall. The essential tree pruning carried out at the beginning of 2005 bore in mind the new access and already we can see a superb new view to St. Mary's Church will be possible when the railway carriages go.
So what are the time scales for all this? As mentioned above, much of the preparatory work has already been done. The current intention is for building work to start in June 2006, hence the decision for the Museum to operate a normal season until Two Museums Day at the end of May but not publicise any further events for the rest of the year. It is intended to keep the site open as normal until the end of October for casual visitors at weekends with access to both the Scania and Shire Halls. To this end, the plan is to construct the new Scania Hall access ramp by Easter 2006.
The actual construction of the new building should not take too long and by the autumn it should be possible to start the work of moving vehicles and setting up the interpretative display inside. This should all be finished well in time for a grand reopening at Easter 2007.
Phil Ireland
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
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