Update 28th October 2008
See Post Bournemouth Aviation Museum Reopens
Original Article
I maintain a list of United Kingdom Aviation Museums I want to visit and so far haven't. This has become almost masochistic as there is now an even longer list of UK Aviation Museum I wanted to visit, never did and cannot now because they closed. Admittedly most of these were small andwere probably unsustainable as organisations, but over the years a number have been major collections, and each closure resulted in a pang of regret.
The closure of the Bournemouth Aviation Museum and the organisations ongoing attempts to retrieve the situation has made me annoyed. In part because Bournemouth Airport has a very important place in British Aviation History, because the collection whilst not huge contains some important exhibits and finally because this situation, despite a lot of effort reached the point where the Museum Closed and is now 'homeless'.
Now Bournemouth Airport is currently owned by Manchester Airport Group which is owned by a group of Councils in and around Greater Manchester. Manchester Airport maintains a the 'Viewing Park' which includes a Concorde and restored Trident 3B, plus a forward section of a DC10, so they cannot be entirely Aviation Heritage unfriendly.
So what happened at Bournemouth. Well firstly the Museum did only have a short lease, which the Airport decided they could not renew because of development plans affecting the Museum Building and surrounding land. Whilst the development in this area, is apparently provide a new Car Park, it is part of the Airports Master Plan and whilst I am sure being replaced by a Car Park really irks the Museum Team, this should not be an issue. The Airport and Museum principals held many meetings once the non-renewal of the lease was advised in an attempt to find alternatives within the Airport Perimeter. But all to no avail.
The Museum had to go and by a set date and that is that. Well this is when I do get a trifle annoyed. I accept the Airports Commercial Interests come first and that they have provided the Museum with 'Some wriggle room', but if they really wanted the Museum on their land would have been looking at how they could have included it in the master plan and consultations should have been ongoing when the lease was signed.
Secondly although MAG trumpets their Community friendly credentials at no stage have they appeared to have considered how they could mitigate the Museums Problems in relocation, After all the Museum is a registered Charity with a high dependency on volunteers, plus it has exhibits important to UK Aviation Heritage and in some cases very significant to Bournemouth Airports past, plus it was an educational resource, all of which should give high ranking in the MAG Bournemouth Community Projects Fund. Whilst other Airport Tenants have assisted, or at least tried very hard to assist the Museum in the lead up to the final eviction date, the MAG Management at Bournemouth other than offering the aforesaid 'wriggle room' have provided no practical help. (If I am wrong I will unreservedly apologise).
Whilst it is obvious the new Museum Trustees are making progress in finding a new home, and have at least local Political support for their efforts, they are inevitably going to lose most if not all of the revenue from this summer. Volunteers and equipment loans can cover a lot of financial holes, but funding and survival are irretrievably linked and maybe this is where MAG should help. After all they are part of the continuing story of Bournemouth Airport and therefore this is their heritage too!
Well time will tell, but unfortunately I am not optimistic that MAG will assist financially and although I believe the Museum will survive it will take a long time to recover, plus there will now always be a feeling of resentment between the Museum and MAG, which will fester for many years. MAG is certainly well within its legal rights. The Museum did make an assumption that the lease would be renewed. But was there consultation between tenants and the Airport over how the Master plan would affect them, if so it is apparent the current Museum Trustees were not party to any consultation.
Heritage can be good for Business and Business can be good for Heritage, but far too often in this country the two collide because neither thinks ahead.
Losing the Bournemouth Aviation Museum completely would almost certainly bolster other collections as exhibits would transfer across, but inevitably some would be lost. The real loss would be the link with Bournemouth's Aviation past and once its gone, it can never be brought back.
See Post Bournemouth Aviation Museum Reopens
Original Article
I maintain a list of United Kingdom Aviation Museums I want to visit and so far haven't. This has become almost masochistic as there is now an even longer list of UK Aviation Museum I wanted to visit, never did and cannot now because they closed. Admittedly most of these were small andwere probably unsustainable as organisations, but over the years a number have been major collections, and each closure resulted in a pang of regret.
The closure of the Bournemouth Aviation Museum and the organisations ongoing attempts to retrieve the situation has made me annoyed. In part because Bournemouth Airport has a very important place in British Aviation History, because the collection whilst not huge contains some important exhibits and finally because this situation, despite a lot of effort reached the point where the Museum Closed and is now 'homeless'.
Now Bournemouth Airport is currently owned by Manchester Airport Group which is owned by a group of Councils in and around Greater Manchester. Manchester Airport maintains a the 'Viewing Park' which includes a Concorde and restored Trident 3B, plus a forward section of a DC10, so they cannot be entirely Aviation Heritage unfriendly.
So what happened at Bournemouth. Well firstly the Museum did only have a short lease, which the Airport decided they could not renew because of development plans affecting the Museum Building and surrounding land. Whilst the development in this area, is apparently provide a new Car Park, it is part of the Airports Master Plan and whilst I am sure being replaced by a Car Park really irks the Museum Team, this should not be an issue. The Airport and Museum principals held many meetings once the non-renewal of the lease was advised in an attempt to find alternatives within the Airport Perimeter. But all to no avail.
The Museum had to go and by a set date and that is that. Well this is when I do get a trifle annoyed. I accept the Airports Commercial Interests come first and that they have provided the Museum with 'Some wriggle room', but if they really wanted the Museum on their land would have been looking at how they could have included it in the master plan and consultations should have been ongoing when the lease was signed.
Secondly although MAG trumpets their Community friendly credentials at no stage have they appeared to have considered how they could mitigate the Museums Problems in relocation, After all the Museum is a registered Charity with a high dependency on volunteers, plus it has exhibits important to UK Aviation Heritage and in some cases very significant to Bournemouth Airports past, plus it was an educational resource, all of which should give high ranking in the MAG Bournemouth Community Projects Fund. Whilst other Airport Tenants have assisted, or at least tried very hard to assist the Museum in the lead up to the final eviction date, the MAG Management at Bournemouth other than offering the aforesaid 'wriggle room' have provided no practical help. (If I am wrong I will unreservedly apologise).
Whilst it is obvious the new Museum Trustees are making progress in finding a new home, and have at least local Political support for their efforts, they are inevitably going to lose most if not all of the revenue from this summer. Volunteers and equipment loans can cover a lot of financial holes, but funding and survival are irretrievably linked and maybe this is where MAG should help. After all they are part of the continuing story of Bournemouth Airport and therefore this is their heritage too!
Well time will tell, but unfortunately I am not optimistic that MAG will assist financially and although I believe the Museum will survive it will take a long time to recover, plus there will now always be a feeling of resentment between the Museum and MAG, which will fester for many years. MAG is certainly well within its legal rights. The Museum did make an assumption that the lease would be renewed. But was there consultation between tenants and the Airport over how the Master plan would affect them, if so it is apparent the current Museum Trustees were not party to any consultation.
Heritage can be good for Business and Business can be good for Heritage, but far too often in this country the two collide because neither thinks ahead.
Losing the Bournemouth Aviation Museum completely would almost certainly bolster other collections as exhibits would transfer across, but inevitably some would be lost. The real loss would be the link with Bournemouth's Aviation past and once its gone, it can never be brought back.
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