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  CHANGES AT THE PLYMOUTH CITY MUSEUM & ART GALLERY

1/3/2017

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The Plymouth ‘History Centre’ (working title) is a major £34m scheme in the heart of Plymouth city, a symbol for the city’s current regeneration and a museum for the future. The vision is to transform the existing Museum and Art Gallery, the adjoining Central Library and St Luke's Church buildings into a new, unique visitor attraction. The name for the development should be available by Spring 2017. Many ideas have been put forward by the Friends and by the public.

The Central Library has taken on a new site at the corner of Armada Way and Mayflower Street, at the top of town.
St. Luke’s Church behind the present museum is to be a building for incoming works of art and as a cultural centre for Plymouth. The Friends hope to see this for all the arts groups within the city, including all ethnicities, to be able to display their form of art such as music, dance, plays, paintings, ceramics, metal works etc.

The new development will enable to shine a light on the city's collections and make them more available to Plymouth residents and visitors to Plymouth, in a way which has not been done before.
The ‘History Centre’ is expected to open as the flagship building for Plymouth's Mayflower 400 commemorations in 2020. The vision is to have the following themes:
 
Sir Francis Drake and Scott of the Antarctic.
The city’s relationship with the Royal Navy both past and present.
Plymouth’s part in the sailing of the Mayflower to America 400 years ago.
Life below the water to include marine life and shipwrecks.
Exhibition space to celebrate Plymouth’s prehistoric landscape.
Galleries highlighting the west country’s artistic legacy to include Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Cottonian Collection and the Newlyn Artists.

The Plymouth City Council (PCC) are currently in the Development Phase - an intense period of planning and consulting. While there may not be much to see while all this preparation is taking place behind the scenes, this is an exciting time for everyone involved and is the period during which the final concepts and ideas for the ‘History Centre’ will be firmed up.
What will it look like? What will it contain? How will people use it? How will they interact with it? What do we the Friends and the PCC want it to achieve? These are the questions we are currently considering. We the Friends see it as starting a journey through the heritage of Plymouth, when entering the front door.

A considerable amount of work has already taken place. Staff from the partner organisations have been seeking advice and knowledge from other cities and cultural centres, as well as looking at best practice and good working models. The main partner organisations are SWFTA (South West Film & TV Archive), SWIB (South West Image Bank), the Library Archives and the PWDRO (Plymouth & West Devon Record Office). These organisations are spread around the city at present, but eventually they shall be brought together in the new building giving better access for the residents of Plymouth and visitors who need to know more about the heritage of Plymouth.

Work has been carried out with world renowned consultants on the design, content and organisational development aspects of the project. At various stages throughout this process they have also been consulting with us the Friends and the wider public to seek opinions and test out ideas. The Development Phase is now complete and the building work begins in early 2017.
 
During the three-year closure of the Museum and Art Gallery, the Friends must decide whether to change our name and constitution to fit in with any new Objects and Aims. In addition, we must keep our members aware of the progress of the development, and keep up our regular coffee mornings and trips out to special places of interest. We also need to increase our membership to reflect the upgrading to the new attraction and to get people to come with us on this historic journey.

The Friends have supported this innovative venture from its inception and look forward to seeing the building work in progress, and the finished development opening in the Spring of 2020.
 
Michael Moore
Chairman FPCMAG
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September 08th, 2016

9/8/2016

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Plymouth’s incredible past looks set to have an amazing future with confirmation of a whopping £14.8 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, HLF has just announced an investment of £55m for heritage projects across England – with Plymouth receiving £14.8m for the delivery phase of the History Centre
The History Centre project already received a £940,300 grant from the HLF to work up detailed designs for the buildings and exhibition spaces and secured planning permission during its development phase.
The new funding package will now enable the team to undertake the building, construction and fit-out elements of the project – transforming the existing City Museum and Art Gallery, Central Library and St Luke’s Church buildings into one major new attraction.
Heritage Minister Tracey Crouch said: “Our heritage provides us with a sense of identity and helps boost tourism, local economies and people’s wellbeing.
“These grants will have a huge impact on a range of projects across England. I am delighted that, thanks to National Lottery players, we are able to help preserve important parts of our heritage for the public to enjoy.”
Nerys Watts, Head of HLF South West, said: “Plymouth’s heritage collections are of national and international importance, reflecting Plymouth’s important role in world history as well as its own fascinating story. Thanks to National Lottery players, the collections will be brought together with people given unprecedented access to them, taking ownership of how their history is presented.
“We’re truly delighted to support this transformational and exciting project, which will boost Plymouth as a major cultural destination, and create some fantastic employment, learning and volunteering opportunities.”
Councillor Glenn Jordan, Cabinet Member for Culture said: “This is brilliant news for Plymouth, brilliant news for the region and brilliant news for anyone who shares our passion about our history and culture here in the South West.
“To have HLF commit £14.8m shows how impressed they are with our aspirations for the History Centre. This is a huge deal for all the team and partners who have worked on this extraordinary project. It’s now all systems go!”
The centre will see five of Plymouth’s major heritage collections come together in one location. The Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, South West Film and Television Archive and South West Image Bank will join the Local Studies and Reference Collection and the City Museum and Art Gallery‘s significant art, human history and natural history collections on the Tavistock Place/North Hill site.
Councillor Ian Bowyer, Leader of Plymouth City Council, which committed £8m to the project said: “This is wonderful news for the city and we’re really grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their whole hearted support.Plymouth City Museum Pix by Wayne Perry - 07801289134 11/8/16
“We’ve been making huge strides with our cultural offer and attracting visitors, but this centre will take us to the next level. Now this funding is in place, we can crack on with creating something special in time for the Mayflower 400 celebrations.”
Plymouth University is a partner through its research, teaching and the University’s public arts programme, Peninsula Arts. Professor Dafydd Moore, Executive Dean of Arts and Humanities at Plymouth University, said: “I am delighted that the ambitious vision for the History Centre and all the hard work dedicated to realising it has been endorsed by the HLF. Plymouth University is proud to be supporting a project of such significance.
“We look forward to continuing to work in partnership to ensure that the importance of Plymouth’s place in history and the place of history in Plymouth are understood, celebrated and can act as an inspiration for our future.”
The History Centre will cover 3,500 square metres and will include exhibition and gallery spaces, both permanent and touring exhibitions.
 Galleries will celebrate subjects including the city’s most influential figures such as Drake and Scott of the Antarctic; Plymouth’s relationship with the Royal Navy; life in the waters around the city: Plymouth’s prehistoric landscape and the West Country’s artistic legacy, including Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Cottonian collection and the Newlyn School of Artists.
Outside, a new public square will transform Tavistock Place with a place for activities and special events as well as cafes.
David Beadel, Chair of the South West Film and Television Archive, said: “This is a further endorsement of the HLF’s confidence in our plans for this major cultural landmark. The History Centre will allow us to transform the public’s access to our region’s amazing heritage, much of which is captured in SWFTA’s film archive. Approval is a huge credit to the hard work of the project team.”
Maureen Selley, Secretary of the Devon Family History Society (FHS) and one of the founders of the Heritage Consortium, said: “Our members are delighted to hear that the HLF Round 2 award is now in place. We have actively supported the development of the Plymouth History Centre since the beginning. This building will bring together all the important heritage resources at present spread across the city. It will create a visitor centre unparalleled in the South West.”
Nigel Godefroy, of the South West Image Bank said: “This is hugely positive news for the History Centre, which once complete will be hugely exciting and transformational for our city. I am delighted that this represents a major step forward in bringing it to fruition.”
The decant of the City Museum and Art Gallery’s collections is already underway and the building will close to the public at the end of Saturday 3 September. More details about what comes next and timescales of the build will be unveiled in the next few weeks.
Stay up to date with the History Centre progress by visiting the Love our past website or follow loveourpast on Facebook and Twitter.
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November 22nd, 2015

11/22/2015

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​CHANGES AT THE PLYMOUTH CITY MUSEUM & ART GALLERY
As you may know the Plymouth ‘History Centre’ (working title) is a major scheme in the heart of the city, a symbol for Plymouth's current regeneration and a museum for the future. The vision is to transform the existing Museum and Art Gallery, Central Library and St Luke's Church buildings into a new, unique visitor attraction. The real name of the development should be available by April 2016. Many ideas have been muted by the Friends and also by the general public.
The Central Library will be taking on a new site at the corner of Armada Way and Mayflower Street. This should be completed by the middle of next year.
St. Luke’s Church behind the museum is to be a building for incoming works of art and also as a cultural centre for Plymouth. The Friends hope to see this for all the arts groups within the city, including all ethnicities, to be able to display their form of art such as music, dance, plays, paintings, ceramics, metal works etc.
The ‘History Centre’ will enable to shine a light on the city's collections and make them more available to local residents and visitors to Plymouth, in a way that have not been done before.
The ‘History Centre’ is expected to open as the flagship building for Plymouth's Mayflower 400 commemorations in 2020. The vision is to have the following themes:
·         Rooms which celebrate the Plymouth individuals who were influential on the world stage such as Sir Francis Drake and Scott of the Antarctic.
·         The city’s relationship with the Royal Navy both past and present
·         Plymouth’s part in the sailing of the Mayflower to America 400 years ago
·         Life below the water to include marine life and shipwrecks
·         Exhibition space to celebrate Plymouth’s prehistoric landscape
·         Galleries highlighting the west country’s artistic legacy to include Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Cottonian Collection and the Newlyn Artists
The PCC are currently in the Development Phase - an intense period of planning and consulting. While there may not be much to see while all this preparation is taking place behind the scenes, this is an exciting time for everyone involved and is the period during which the final concepts and ideas for the ‘History Centre’ will be firmed up.
What will it look like? What will it contain? How will people use it? How will they interact with it? What do us the Friends and the PCC want it to achieve? These are the questions we are currently considering . We see it as starting a journey when entering the front door.
A considerable amount of work has already taken place. Staff from the partner organisations have been seeking advice and knowledge from other cities and cultural centres as well as looking at best practice and good working models. The main partner organisations are SWFTA (South West Film & TV Archive), SWIB (South West Image Bank), the Library Archives and the PWDRO (Plymouth & West Devon Record Office). These organisations are spread around the city at present and the idea is to bring them all together in one place. SWFTA is down the side of the Treasury Restaurant, Catherine Street; SWIB is housed at 25 Parade, Barbican; PWDRO is based in Clare Place, Cattedown.
Work is now being carried out with world renowned consultants on the design, content and organisational development aspects of the project. At various stages throughout this process they will also be consulting with the Friends and the wider public to seek their opinions and test out ideas. The Development Phase will continue until the building work begins in late 2016/early 2017.
The most recent milestone was the Mid Stage Review with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Project leaders took a series of detailed reports to a meeting with HLF, all of which contained the latest thinking and designs for the ‘History Centre’.
The meeting was positive and the team were congratulated on the quality of the submissions with a very positive letter. So they are progressing well where the HLF are concerned, and should be ready to put in their second application in April 2016.
The Mid Stage Review does not involve a formal sign off, but it does mean that the HLF are very happy for PCC to continue with their Development Phase.
Later this autumn they will be revealing where they have got to with the design work to the Friends, the public and all of their associated partners. This will be the first time they will share their vision in detail with the public.
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Proposed 'History Centre'

11/22/2015

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September 24th, 2015

9/24/2015

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The History Centre story so far...

The vision of an International History Centre in Plymouth was born from a need to protect and safeguard the future of some of Plymouth's most valued archives and historic collections. These include the archives at Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, collections at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery (currently only 5 per cent of the museum's fantastic collections are on display) and Plymouth Local Studies Library Collection.

The inclusion of films from the South West Film and TV Archives and images from the South West Image Bank, presented the partners with a unique opportunity to create something truly special.

  • An accessible archive available for research by students and families wishing to study the history of the area and its people
  • A museum and its collections reaching out to the world through telling stories about Plymouth's past, present and future
  • A location for contemporary art exhibitions and events
  • A major new tourism attraction
In May 2014, the partners were successful with their bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for £12.8 million.

In October 2014, Atkins, one of the World's leading design, engineering and project management firms were appointed to oversee the technical and architectural design for the centre.

The History Centre is now in its development phase. Detailed plans are currently being prepared that will be resubmitted to the HLF in April 2016.

The new History Centre will provide 4,310sq.m. of refurbished space in the existing Grade II listed museum and library building, plus St Luke's Church in Tavistock Place.

It will also include 2,676 sq. m. of space in a new extension to the rear of the library building. This will mean much bigger and better exhibition areas and fantastic facilities for the visiting public, including study spaces for students and leisure facilities for visitors.

 

  
 

 


   

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September 24th, 2015

9/24/2015

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    Author

    Michael Moore
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