Lerwick college building identified as possible location for new museum store
PARTS of the UHI campus building in Lerwick – which could be vacated in the coming years – have been earmarked as a possible new home for the local museum store.
The museum store is currently located in a building near to the marts on the outskirts of Lerwick, but it has been running out of space.
The store has housed many thousands of artefacts and items that are not on display in Shetland since opening in 1998.
It is operated by Shetland Amenity Trust, which runs the museum and archives in Lerwick, on behalf of Shetland Islands Council.
The building is carefully controlled to keep items in good condition, with humidity an important factor.
Work has been underway on exploring a new home for the store for a number of years but at a meeting of the SIC’s policy and resources committee on Monday, North Isles member Robert Thomson noted how a report said the “project scope” for an options appraisal was still being “clarified”.
However team leader of architectural and surveying Neil Clubb said a building has been identified by the SIC as a possible new store.
He said it was the UHI Shetland Lerwick campus building at Gremista, which the SIC owns.
Clubb said the SIC therefore must work with the UHI on the matter and “merge” with the college’s own programme.
He added the SIC is in the “process of trying to free up parts of the building”.
Clubb also highlighted to councillors that the college building would need to be serviced and prepared for use as a museum store.
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But Shetland Central councillor Moraig Lyall said she was surprised to hear the focus was on the UHI building at Gremista.
This was because she had thought it was earmarked for other purposes, adding that she did not want other council departments working against each other.
But Clubb later told the meeting that only certain parts of the building were being looked at for the museum store and not the entire premises.
Meanwhile Lyall also said she would like to see a review into what is actually being kept at the store, so space is not being taken up by items that will “never see the light of day”.
Earlier this year Arch Henderson was awarded a contract by UHI Shetland for the provision of architectural, engineering and professional services for the design phase of its future campus project.
UHI Shetland principal and CEO Professor Jane Lewis said last year that the organisation faces “substantial operating costs” at both its Lerwick and Scalloway campuses.
She said that “maintenance, heating, lighting, rent, and other costs amount to some £250,000 per year for our Scalloway Campus and for Lerwick some £340,000 per year”.
Writing in a blog post published in September, Lewis said the ageing campuses would also need “substantial maintenance input”, particularly to meet net zero commitments.
She also said usage surveys of our teaching spaces show that both campuses are underutilised compared to the wider sector.
However the UHI previously said it still hopes to keep a presence in Lerwick, potentially closer to the centre of town.
Shetland News visited the museum store back in 2019 – read about it here:
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