SNEAK PEAK… How the new museum complex will look
THE head of the Heritage Lottery Fund, which is donating £2,376,00 towards refurbishment of the Fermanagh County Museum, described it as ‘a genuinely world-class’ project.
Plans were unveiled last week. Construction work is due to start mid-February next year, with an opening date in the Spring of 2016. Sarah McHugh, the manager of Museum Services said the funding was, ‘a real boon to Fermanagh’.
“It will enable the museum service to be even more ambitious. My hope is that we are building an inspirational space where locals and visitors can explore the unique heritage of the region, gain more access to our museum collections and enjoy bigger and better events and activities.”
The museum’s reception area will not be operating over the next 48 weeks.
However, the Inniskillings Museum will be open to visitors at a reduced admission rate and visitors will still be able to enjoy the museum’s medieval Maguires display on the ground floor of the Castle Keep.
The derelict building (the old health centre) inside the main gates will be demolished and a new, two-storey Visitor Information Centre erected in its place. Its staff will be located on its ground floor.
The History Hub and the Genealogy Centre will be located on the first floor. Across the yard at the rear, the Barrack Coach House, currently the exhibition centre, will house four art galleries and two offices.
The area between will be covered by large demountable umbrellas The head of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Paul Mullan, said this week: “We feel passionately about this extremely important project which is genuinely world-class.
Our investment will provide a lasting legacy, not just for Enniskillen but for the whole of Fermanagh.”
Mark Knight, the project architect said his firm was delighted to be involved in sensitively transforming a significant heritage asset into a world-class visitor facility.
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