€10 million city museum is not fit for purpose

It may have won awards for its design and cost the taxpayer €10 million but Galway City Museum has been described as “highly problematical” and “far from ideal” for use as a museum nearly a decade after it opened.

The astonishing admission is contained in a draft strategic management plan for the building in the Spanish Arch where details of a €6.5m redevelopment have been outlined. The museum has applied to Fáilte Ireland to fund €4.6m of the total cost.

The plan states that although the building was designed specifically as a museum it is not fit for purpose.

“Its design is far from ideal for the display and conservation of archaeological and historical objects. In many respects, the building is highly problematical,” according to consultants.

“There are substantial areas of glazing making control of light and temperature difficult, and the original systems used to control the environment have proved inadequate.

“The staff team have made substantial efforts to mitigate these problems by treating the windows and monitoring and controlling the environment as effectively as they can . . . it cannot borrow important items and its storage system is inadequate and even dangerous.”

Its substandard environment was preventing exhibitions of international importance from reaching the city while national cultural institutions were not loaning artefacts.

Much of its collection had to be moved to offsite storage facilities after a major flood in the winter of 2014/2015. Of its five storage areas, just one has environmental control to ensure the conservation of valuable objects.

The cost of addressing the environmental deficiencies has been put at €360,000 with a further €200,000 estimate for fixing the storage areas.

The expansion application centres on a cultural hub which involves the refurbishment of Comerford House to tell Galway’s story and providing access to the top of the Spanish Arch, creating an iconic viewing point over Galway Bay, the Claddagh and the Corrib.

The plan involves developing a pedestrian bridge link between Comerford House and the museum which will be re-ordered to house “innovative technology and interpretive platforms”, while outside an all-weather public outdoor space will be created.

Four nearby cottages owned by the Council on Lower Merchants Road will be overhauled to accommodate craftspeople who will interact with visitors.

Cllr Padraig Conneely, chairperson of the economic development, enterprise support and culture strategic policy committee, said it was vitally important Fáilte Ireland now got on board with funding for this much-needed tourism flagship project.

“Fáilte Ireland has been lacking in financial support for Galway City over the years. I hope they come through with funding for this ambition plan which will greatly enhance the Spanish Arch, one of the most visited areas in the city and along the Wild Atlantic Way.”

A decision on whether the initial application with Fáilte Ireland will progress to the next stage will be handed down in early 2017.

Despite the shortcomings, the museum attracts more visitors than any other regional museum in Ireland – 174,000 last year. The strategic plan aims to more than double visitor numbers to 388,000 within five years.

The Galway City Museum opened in 2006 at a cost of €9.6m, with the Galway City Council investing €6.8m between construction and annual operating costs. Designed by the Office of Public Works team of Ciaran O’Connor and Ger Harvey, it won a Bank of Ireland Opus architectural award.