Green light for Council to draw up museum expansion proposals

The Galway City Museum has been approved to go to the design stage of a major expansion and upgrade by Fáilte Ireland.

The decision gives the green light to Galway City Council to draw up detailed plans for the €6.5m redevelopment and extension of the museum into a cultural hub, extending into Comerford House and the Spanish Arch, both protected structures.

The Council will also plan the construction process for the particularly sensitive site at the edge of the water. The development is likely to be carefully scrutinised by heritage campaigners, business owners as well as residents.

If planning is approved, architects and builders will be chosen after a public tendering process.

Now that the project has passed its first major hurdle, it is unclear who funds the next design stage, according to a spokesman for the Council.

“There are three phases. We have just got word we have passed the first stage. Now we go and develop it and draw up plans, seek Part 8 approval and we’ve got 12 months to do that,” he explained.

“It hasn’t been finally agreed who will finance this next stage, but we have a meeting with Fáilte Ireland and that will be worked out. This is very good news.”

While the 2020 European City of Culture designation was not contingent on the project going ahead, it was mentioned as major development which could enhance the cultural infrastructure of the city.

The spokesman said while it would certainly be ambitious to have it completed by the start of 2020, it was not impossible.

“It has to be done carefully and in consultation with statutory bodies, residents and traders. Hopefully we’d be well on our way by 2020.”

Last year the Director of the Museum defended the institution as a well-functioning museum which ‘punched above its weight’ in terms of visitor numbers and exhibitions, in spite of the building’s limitations.

It is the second most popular non-fee paying attraction outside Dublin.

The Direstor, Eithne Verling, has drawn up significant plans to address a number of environmental issues within the museum in order to attract significant international and national collections.

A draft strategic management plan by consultants on behalf of the museum detailed the “highly problematical” design of building for the display and conservation of archaeological and historical objects.

The glass throughout the building, opened at a cost of €10 million a decade ago, means the display of environmentally sensitive objects such as watercolours, textiles        and prints is unsafe for long periods.

Air exchange units to regulate humidity are also inadequate to control the environment for valuable collections.

The National Gallery of Ireland has refused to lend important paintings due to the “serious” fluctuations in conditions which would breach standard international and national protocols on borrowing and lending.

The museum has applied to the Department of Arts, Heritage Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for funding of €360,000 to fix the environmental problems, and a further €200,000 to sort out the storage areas. The grant to Fáilte Ireland is to fund €4.6m of a €6.5m redevelopment.

The long-term vision for the site is to move the medieval collection to Comerford House, trebling the size of the lecture room to seat up to 90 people, and reordering the current building to house the prehistoric artefacts with tales from the era.

An all-weather area outside could hold currach-building workshops and themed markets, as well as concerts and films; while a viewing platform on top of the Spanish Arch would become the most sought after place for photos.

The four Council-owned cottages opposite the House Hotel would be transformed into “living heritage ateliers” where craftspeople would ply their trade in full view of visitors; while upstairs could serve as living quarters for visiting artists.