HLF - GETTING THERE!

At the routine meeting with the contractors at the end of November, they had to admit that not everything would be finished by Christmas but were still expecting that the hall itself would be complete by then. In mid-December, when this is being written, although there is an army of people doing things it still seems unlikely that the Power Hall will be complete and ready to be handed over to BaMMOT in less than ten working days time!

Progress has been good and much of the electrical fitting work has been done. The building work on the toilets is complete but they are still to be fitted out internally. Externally, the site is now even more chaotic than it has been so far with work progressing on installing drainage, creating the ramps required to meet the Disability Discrimination Act, resurfacing the area in front of the new hall and providing hard standing in front of the Shire Hall.

With recent rains everywhere is a quagmire and the only way into the café building is via a ladder. One of the more exciting moments was moving the admission kiosk to its new home on a concrete pad by the new access road. This was done on the rather too small forks of a forklift truck with several people keeping it in balance. Fortunately, it made it in one piece.

Meanwhile Malcolm Keeley and the consultant engaged for this are making good progress on the interpretative display to be installed in the new hall. At present all this is background work so there is no visible progress on site and much of what this will look like is being kept under wraps until it is unveiled to the public when the Museum opens for 2007.

Volunteer work is an important part of the HLF project as this counts towards the Trust's contribution. Recently this has included work on erecting the GWR fencing and preparing the utility BCT shelter for erection in front of the new hall. Work has also been progressing on the vehicles to go in the new hall, including the Guy Otter, Wolverhampton trolleybus and Guy SUK3 amongst others.

As well as the HLF project, the Museum was given a grant to assist with upgrading the café. Whilst some work towards achieving this has already been done, including removing some of the kitchen walls, much remains to be done. Difficulty in accessing the building at present means the work is largely on hold but should resume soon.

Phil Ireland

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