First stage lottery bid approved for Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum

Lottery bid approved for Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum

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Rochdale’s fire service museum could be renovated and almost quadruple in size after the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) approved a first stage bid by Rochdale Borough Council and the Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum Trust.

The success means the council and trust are one step closer to securing the £2m, which will help create a new tourist attraction in Rochdale and boost the borough’s already strong cultural heritage.

It will also ensure a long-term future for the museum, which is in the grounds of the former Rochdale fire station.

The council will now buy the building in Maclure Road, securing its future and strengthening the bid in readiness for stage two. If the second stage is successful, the council will rent the building to the trust which runs the museum.

The fire station was built in 1933 in the art deco style. The current museum, which features old fire engines and an old fire station complete with horse drawn steam pump, opened in 1983 and has a Quality Assured Visitor Attraction (VAQAS) accreditation.

Under the plans, the ground floor of the old fire station would be renovated and adapted, enabling the museum to extend into this area from its current location in a former workshop block on the same site, increasing its floor space from around 300 to over 1,000 square metres.

The move would enable the museum to display significantly more exhibits and would allow for new interactive displays, as well as the creation of a café and dedicated education space.

The changes would also allow the museum, which currently only opens on Fridays and the first Sunday of every month, to open six days a week, in a move that is expected to help boost visitor numbers from their current 4,200 to 15,000.

The appointment of a development coordinator to create a rolling programme of community engagement activities is also part of the proposal.

Museum Curator, Bob Bonner, said: “This is the best news we could have been given. The museum’s accommodation has been in doubt ever since the fire station was put on sale some years ago, but now looks a lot more secure.

"With this very welcome first-round grant from HLF, and the fantastic support of the council, our long-planned project to set up a new museum in this wonderful building has taken a major step forward. We are determined to see this through to completion.”