Black Country Living Museum secures HLF funding for major expansion
The Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) in Dudley has been awarded £9.8m by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) which will go towards a facility expansion increasing the museum’s footprint by a third.
The £21.7m project – BCLM: Forging Ahead – is the first phase of a 40 year masterplan laid out by the museum, which celebrates the history of the Black Country in the Midlands.
The funding means the museum can now start work on the development of a 1940s to 1960s area, which will also feature new learning spaces and visitor facilities.
The museum says it has identified buildings across the region, which it wants to translocate, recreate or replicate on-site. These include pub, shops, a hairdressers and an NHS clinic.
Among the buildings to be relocated “brick by brick”, identified structures include the West Bromwich Gas Showroom, the Woodside Library, the William Griffin & Sons Proving House and the J H Lavender Aluminium Foundry.
“We plan to create a new historic development set in the 1940s-1960s, telling the story of social, cultural, commercial and industrial life in the Black Country during this period,” said BCLM.
“This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will allow us to tell the story of the Black Country up to the closure of the Baggeridge Coal Mine in 1968, bringing about the end of a unique era for the Black Country.”
In order to accommodate the 500,000 visitors a year the museum is targeting by 2022, a new contemporary Visitor Centre including new retail and catering facilities will provide a juxtaposition against the historic site. Additionally a new contemporary learning centre and complementary industrial learning space will be created to significantly enhance BCLM’s ability to deliver learning activities for the 80,000 school children that visit the site each year.
“BCLM is a world-class attraction that tells the story of the region’s history and provides a real boost to the local economy,” said Karen Bradley secretary of state for culture, media and sport.
“This exciting project, backed by £9.8m funding from National Lottery players, will help the museum reflect an important time in the area’s past and preserve its historic buildings for the future.”
Black Country Living Museum Heritage Lottery Fund HLF BCLM: Forging Ahead Karen Bradley National Lottery museumMuseum to recreate 1940s-60s town as new headline attraction
Keynote speaker unveiled for Tourism Society Symposium 2016
Black Country Museum announces £600,000 loss
Europe's premier Evian Spa unveiled at Hôtel Royal in France
Clinique La Prairie unveils health resort in China after two-year project
GoCo Health Innovation City in Sweden plans to lead the world in delivering wellness and new science
Four Seasons announces luxury wellness resort and residences at Amaala
Aman sister brand Janu debuts in Tokyo with four-floor urban wellness retreat
€38m geothermal spa and leisure centre to revitalise Croatian city of Bjelovar
Two Santani eco-friendly wellness resorts coming to Oman, partnered with Omran Group
Kerzner shows confidence in its Siro wellness hotel concept, revealing plans to open 100
Ritz-Carlton, Portland unveils skyline spa inspired by unfolding petals of a rose
Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners are just one of the names behind The Emory hotel London and Surrenne private members club
Peninsula Hot Springs unveils AUS$11.7m sister site in Australian outback
IWBI creates WELL for residential programme to inspire healthy living environments
Conrad Orlando unveils water-inspired spa oasis amid billion-dollar Evermore Resort complex
Studio A+ realises striking urban hot springs retreat in China's Shanxi Province
Populous reveals plans for major e-sports arena in Saudi Arabia
Wake The Tiger launches new 1,000sq m expansion
Othership CEO envisions its urban bathhouses in every city in North America
Merlin teams up with Hasbro and Lego to create Peppa Pig experiences
SHA Wellness unveils highly-anticipated Mexico outpost
One&Only One Za’abeel opens in Dubai featuring striking design by Nikken Sekkei
Luxury spa hotel, Calcot Manor, creates new Grain Store health club
'World's largest' indoor ski centre by 10 Design slated to open in 2025
Murrayshall Country Estate awarded planning permission for multi-million-pound spa and leisure centre
Aman's Janu hotel by Pelli Clarke & Partners will have 4,000sq m of wellness space
Therme Group confirms Incheon Golden Harbor location for South Korean wellbeing resort
Universal Studios eyes the UK for first European resort
King of Bhutan unveils masterplan for Mindfulness City, designed by BIG, Arup and Cistri
Rural locations are the next frontier for expansion for the health club sector
Tonik Associates designs new suburban model for high-end Third Space health and wellness club
Aman sister brand Janu launching in Tokyo in 2024 with design by Denniston's Jean-Michel Gathy
From parks designed to mitigate the effects of flooding to warming huts for one of the world’s coldest cities, these projects have been designed for increasingly extreme climates