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New Museum Project At the end of 2007, the Museum reluctantly had to vacate the building in the High Street that had been its home since 1977. In the Spring of 2008, it moved into its current temporary portacabin accommodation in the Mill Road Car Park.
Plans for the New Museum The Museum secured planning permission in March 2009 for a new building on an ideal site by the river and close to the current Museum's temporary home. The new museum will be in the middle of tourist activity, and being on the flat river plain, it will be accessible to all. The Museum Society thanks Graham Whitehouse, our architect, who created the plans and steered us through the planning process, giving his time at no charge. You can see some of the architectural drawings of the proposed building below.
GWP Architects Ltd
The Design Concept for the New Museum The Museum has appointed Potter Associates, a professional museum design firm, to help us to develop the design concept for the new interpretation and displays. Jonothan Potter is an experienced and highly creative designer who will work closely with us to bring our vision for a dynamic new museum to life. It is very exciting to realize what a wonderful opportunity we have to use cutting edge design and modern technology. Jonothan has also been asked to produce a modern logo for our new museum. We need his input to help us to produce our first round bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund who require a detailed design development plan. His first task has been to produce a design brief and outline concept. Jonothan visited Arundel in June to get a feel for Arundel and its heritage, to meet with members to obtain their ideas and opinions, and run workshops with Committee members, He also met with Graham Whitehouse, our architect. At a second visit on Wednesday 15 July 2009, Jonothan gave two informal presentations of his ideas: in the morning to members of the Museum Society; and in same evening to a more general audience. The designs should project us as a much more modern museum, and provide those of all ages with a more lively and enjoyable experience from a visit to the new museum.
Potter Associates Heritage Lottery Fund Bid In August 2009, we submitted a round one bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. This is a crucial stage in our project development. If we are successful it means that HLF consider that our project has merit, and we will get a grant to enable us to do more development work during 2010. This work will enable us to make a second round application to HLF for the big money. Our aim is to obtain £950,000 in total from this source. We believe that we have a well thought out project which should stand out from the crowd. We can only hope that HLF agree. Our bid will compete with all others from the South East Region. We will not know the outcome until December at the earliest. If we are successful it will mean a great deal more work to make the next application, which is again competitive. We have a promise of some funding from Arun District Council, but finding the rest will be challenging. We have to raise at least a further £500,000 from other sources in order to reach our required funding target which must be in place before we can ask HLF to provide their grant. If we are not successful with our Round One application we will have to re-think our project because HLF is the chief source of large grant aid. Whilst it is still just possible that we may find alternative funders to provide the missing million, we have to recognise that this would be difficult. Meanwhile, the work does not stop. Arundel's New Museum Plans Take a Huge Step Forward
This means that we have been awarded a grant of £102,800 to develop our plans. A big thank you to those who spent time putting the first round grant application together. We can now progress to the second round of the HLF application process and have until the autumn to submit more detailed development plans and apply for up to £888,000 support for our £1,978,550 project. There is still a great deal of hard work to be done but we can now employ the professional help needed to bring the new building even nearer. Stuart McLeod, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund South East said 'This grant provides the opportunity for Arundel Museum to develop their proposals to offer high quality space and facilities so that local people and visitors alike can learn about the history of Arundel. We also hope it will be a huge boost for the volunteers that work so hard to keep the museum open'. The fact that HLF like our plans and think they are worth supporting means a great deal; it raises the profile of our project and will, we hope, encourage others to support it. Of course, we still have to raise the additional money required, and there will be some major fundraising efforts during the coming year. Please click here to read the Museum Society's January 2010 press release about the grant. Re-Branding Arundel Museum and the Society Coincidentally with the success of our first round bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, Arundel Museum re-branded itself with a new logo. This can be seen on each page of our re-vamped website, which takes its new colour scheme from the logo. It can also be seen in such things as our newsletter and stationery. We believe it reflects a more modern approach with its crisp design. So what does our new logo represent? Arundel's history is closely associated with the river and this connection is reflected in the design for the new museum building by Graham Whitehouse. The prow of the new building has a mast, and it is this that has been captured in the logo designed by the museum's interior designer, Jonothan Potter. To the left of the mast is an echo of the roof line; to the right is the shape of an Arun barge sail. The blue splash represents the river. Please click here to read a full explanation of the new logo written by its designer.
Heritage Lottery Fund Brings Arundel's New Museum Building One Step Nearer Good news for 2011 for Arundel Museum Society (AMS). The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded a confirmed grant of £888,000 for a three-year project towards the cost of a new purpose-built museum for Arundel. To be housed on a prime site near the Castle entrance and river, the HLF's investment in the museum will see major benefits to visitors and the community, with much-needed spacious gallery spaces and facilities for research, education, and the demands of local schools. Arundel town is an important local resource for learning about local and national history and AMS will use the new museum to inform people's exploration, enjoyment and understanding of the town. The collections, dating from pre-historic times to the late 19th-century, relate to the ancient market town and port of Arundel and surrounding area, which includes one of the few surviving castles in England to have been occupied since the Norman period, and several archaeological sites, scheduled monuments and ancient parkland. Arundel adjoins Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is on the edge of the newly designated National Park. The area attracts between 700,000 to 800,000 visitors a year. The new museum building – which will also contain a large foyer and Information point, offices and accessible storage space – is to be designed by Graham Whitehouse of GWP Architects, with interior design by Potter Associates. Stuart McLeod, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund for South East England, said, "The determination and tireless enthusiasm of the volunteers in keeping Arundel Museum going is to be applauded. Now, the collections can be fully brought to life and the museum can become the hub of the community for people of all ages once more." Chairman of Arundel Museum, Pauline Carder, explains the story behind the museum, "From its origins in the 1960s in the Undercroft of the Town Hall and the first move in 1977 to new and bigger premises at the old Borough Council offices in the High Street, to sadly closing it doors in 2007 after the lease on that building expired, Arundel Museum has been on a long journey to gaining the lottery money for a permanent new building to house its collections. "Thanks to the generosity of Osborne and Speedy Space sponsoring a Portakabin, and the Castle Trustees agreeing to it being sited in the main car park, we have managed to keep a presence in the town over the past three years and staged selected displays which are changed two or three times a year. We have maintained our 'Walks and Talks', outreach, research and family research programmes as well as a range of social and fundraising events. "Now, thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund, we are absolutely delighted that the new museum, to be built on land to be leased at a peppercorn rent from the Arundel Castle Trustees, will mean that Arundel's history and heritage will be safeguarded and be accessible to residents and visitors for the foreseeable future". Heritage Lottery Fund Application Successful In late March, the Arundel Museum Society heard that its application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £888,000 had been granted subject to contract. This is towards the £1,414,500 total cost of the New Museum Project. This grant, together with the partnership of £385,500 from Arun District Council and funding from other sources, including £50,000 raised locally last year, gives sufficient funds for the prestigious building opposite the lower gate of the Castle to go ahead. Congratulations must be given to Rosemary Hagedorn and her team, which has worked so hard over the last twelve months since being awarded a Project Development grant of £102,000 by the Heritage Fund to pay for professional assistance in preparing the round two application. Support has been given by A Different View in preparing a Feasibility Study, Audience Development and Activity Plans. Cragg Management have acted as excellent project managers throughout. However, it is important to emphasise that we still have to raise more funds to complete the wish list for exciting displays in the interior of the building. The Museum Society would like to thank Arundel Town Council, all the local businesses and a great many members of the community for all the support they have given to forward this huge and exciting project.
What Happens Next? Everyone wants an answer to this question, and the answer is perhaps disappointing to those of us who want action, because it amounts to wait and see. However, that is because we have to abide by the very strict HLF regulations which lock us into a defined process. We have to be given official permission to start, and there are legal contracts to sign. Until that is done we only have an offer. Once everything is agreed and all the funding is in place there will be a process of project development, tendering, and other work, all of which is invisible. Nothing very obvious will happen on site until some time in June at the earliest. The first stage will be the demolition of St Nicholas Hall and an archaeological investigation. One thing is certain: there is a huge amount of work to do to develop the new Museum and the activities which will be provided there. As soon as we can we will issue information about the many exciting new volunteering opportunities, and we hope that Members of the Society who have not previously been actively involved will want to join in.
The Legal Side of Things Reproduced from an Article in the August 2011 Newsletter from a report by Christopher Boyce précised by Martyn Must The current position is that Christopher Boyce has prepared and sent the Agreement and the Lease for the new Museum to the Arundel Castle Trustees, who wish to finally review them when their solicitor returns from holiday. The Agreement is a contract that permits us to go on site and build the museum, allows the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to step in to our shoes if we default, requires us to complete the works in a timely fashion, etc. etc. The Lease is granted only when the works are completed, and will be for a 50 year term at a peppercorn rent. The HLF are happy with these documents, and will be sending the Legal Charge (mortgage) when it has been executed by HLF, but this is also delayed by holidays. However, we cannot exchange contracts until Arundel Castle Trustees can simultaneously complete the purchase of Angmering Park Estate Trustees' land; the latter currently own the lion's share of the site. Furthermore, the Museum does not want to exchange until the Funding Agreement with Arun District Council has been exchanged. In that respect, we need to agree the specification for the public toilets; it still needs to be bottomed out with the Contractor. But otherwise the deal with Arun District Council for £385,000 is ready. The tenders for the building work are back and will be discussed at a Museum Board Meeting on 11 August. On the same day the Museum is also meeting HLF to update them. |
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