Summerlee: New Stories, New Audiences, Better Lives
Community groups and local people are being asked to share their views on plans to transform Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life. The ‘Summerlee: New Stories, New Audiences, Better Lives’ project aims to substantially increase the scope and character of the Museum with a new expanded focus on social history up to the closure of Ravenscraig in the early 1990s, a period that is currently largely missing from both its existing collections and exhibitions.
The proposed development has been supported by an initial award of £148,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out consultation work, feasibility studies and research.
The Museum aims to submit a £3.4 million application next year to enhance the visitor experience at the much-loved Coatbridge site, including several key initiatives:
- Construction of a miner’s village with cottage exhibitions on various themes;
- Development of a miner’s welfare hall for functions and community events;
- Creation of an expanded learning landscape with interactive site interpretation to enable greater use, understanding and engagement with the Museum’s natural surroundings;
- Establishment of new learning, creative, and gallery spaces.
These exciting plans will help the Museum concentrate on the daily lives, living conditions and social dynamics of local people from the post-war era until the 1990s. Far-reaching in scope, these planned initiatives are not only about revitalising existing collections and exhibitions but are very much focused on fostering wider community involvement too. The Museum is eager to incorporate as wide a range of perspectives as possible to ensure our shared history is brought to life as part of this substantial redevelopment.
summerleeproject@northlan.gov.uk
