attractions & museums


Guardian museum award shortlist announced


pETE hAyMAN


Six attractions across the UK have been shortlisted in the 2011 Guardian Family Friendly Museum Award, the winner of which is due to be announced on 7 April. Abbey House Museum, Leeds; Corinium


Museum, Cirencester; Kilmartin House, Argyll; and Horniman Museum, London, are among the museums in the running. Mansfield Museum, Nottingham; and the


Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke- on-Trent are also vying for the Guardian Family Friendly Museum Award.


Four sites share £10m HLF grant ToM WAlkEr


The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has handed out a £10m funding package to be shared by four heritage sites. Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge


(£2.32m); Cardigan Castle in Ceredigion, Wales (£4.7m); Charleston Barns in Lewes (£2.4m); and Bath’s Royal Crescent (£1.4m) will use the cash to upgrade their respec- tive visitor experiences. Kettle’s Yard – a museum


and gallery belonging to the University of Cambridge – is to be extended and a new programme of workshops, seminars, lectures and displays will be created. At Charleston Farmhouse, the site’s operator Charleston Trust will redevelop the barn and yard into a new education and exhibition space. Meanwhile, a new heritage centre will be created at Cardigan Castle, one of a handful


Event will deliver a masterplan for the museum


Event secures National Army Museum contract


ToM WAlkEr


Te National Army Museum (NAM) has appointed Event Communications to deliver a master plan for the five-year trans- formation of the attraction. Event will work with NAM on the phys-


ical and operational redevelopment of NAM, including programming, audience development, educational outreach, collec- tions and research strategy. Te plan will form the centre piece of


the museum’s strategy to establish itself as a “world-class museum experience”.


New visitor centre planned for North Wales castle


pETE hAyMAN


A new visitor facility is to be created at Denbigh Castle, North Wales, aſter plans to improve the attraction’s tourist experi- ence received £600,000 from Cadw. The funding has been made avail-


able through the agency’s £19m Heritage Tourism Project, which is supported by £8.5m of European Union investment. Plans for the castle will also include the


opening up of wall walks, enhancements to the site’s interpretation and upgraded links with Denbigh’s wider historic landscape.


8 Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, has received more than £2.3m from the HLF


of remaining stone castles built in Wales. An activity plan will also be put in place, provid- ing training for volunteers. At the Grade I-listed No 1 Royal Crescent,


the grant will allow for the site’s two build- ings to be re-connected, creating a larger and improved museum and exhibition space.


June opening for £74m Glasgow museum pETE hAyMAN


Glasgow Life has announced that the new £74m Riverside Museum, which will be home to the city’s transport and technology collections, is to officially open on 21 June. Te Zaha Hadid-designed


attraction is to be unveiled by Glasgow City Council (GCC) leader Gordon Matheson and will house around 3,000 exhibits across 150 displays. GCC has invested nearly


£51m in the development of the new Riverside Museum, which is the first purpose- built transport attraction in the city. It will provide the Museum of Transport’s


Te Riverside Museum is the city’s first new-build attraction since 1983 BAM Construction started work on site in


third home since opening in the 1960s and is the city’s first new-build attraction since Te Burrell Collection was unveiled in 1983.


2007, with interiors and theming company Mivan appointed to deliver the fit-out of the attraction. Te Heritage Lottery Fund awarded more than £18m towards the project.


Visitor numbers up at Merlin attractions ToM WAlkEr


Attractions operator Merlin Entertainments has reported an increase in visitor numbers and revenues for the financial year of 2010. In its full-year results to 25 December 2010, the group announced a 6.5 per cent increase


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


in total visitors to its attractions, resulting in a 4.1 per cent increase in revenue. Merlin chief executive Nick Varney said that


the results were down to both growth in the group’s existing portfolio, as well as the group’s aggressive expansion strategy.


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2011


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