Museums for the Future
The September meeting of the Coventry Society was dedicated to a talk by Steve Bagley, Curator of Coventry Transport Museum, and his colleague Damien Kimberley. They told us about the new developments of the museum; how the building will get a new make-over with the aid of a very large grant from the National Lottery. The plans involve moving the two Land Speed Record cars to the front of the museum. This will involve building an extension to the building out into the side loading bay. The Museum shop will be moved to the front and will be on the right as you walk in. The rest of the museum will be laid out in date order from the very earliest cycles through the history of car development, with every vehicle displayed on a blue ribbon. There will be no special exhibition of cycles or motorcycles - they will be dotted throughout the displays in date order.
Steve and Damien also briefly talked about the Museum taking over the old Grammar school and its restoration and future use at an educational resource. This building has been a concern for the Coventry Society for many years and it is nice to hear that it will be saved.
Alongside the development plans for the Transport Museum are the plans for the amalgamation of the Transport Museum, the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, the Lunt Fort and the Priory Visitors Centre into a new Cultural Coventry Trust. We were sad to learn that these cost cutting plans have led to job losses, including Steve Bagley who gave us the talk and has worked for the museum for 27 years. We send him our best wishes for the future.
