Published: Tuesday, 1st July, 2008 15:00
£6m grant moves new Burns museum step closer
By Frank Cassidy
Print Article
VISITORS will soon be flocking to South Ayrshire after a huge £5.8m investment into a new Burns museum was revealed.
It also represents a massive boost to safeguarding the heritage of the area after the National Trust for Scotland was given the money from lottery funds.
Combined with contributions from Holyrood, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire and South Ayrshire Council along with additional fundraising by the trust, the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum is now a reality.
Based in Alloway, the Bard’s birthplace, it will bring the entire Robert Burns collection of manuscripts, correspondence and artifacts under one roof.
Using modern methods such as interactive displays the museum will attract people of all ages with Burns Cottage remaining a major attraction to the complex.
Although the new museum will create interest all over the world, the local community is also enthusiastic about how the project can enhance Alloway.
Community council chairman Peter Watson said: “Everyone is pleased that the Trust is taking this project forward. We are convinced that this needs to be of the highest possible standard and the plans we have seen so far will certainly bring Burns into the 21st century.”
When the new museum opens in 2010 it will also feature educational facilities to bring Burns alive to future generations while the past will be recognised by a refurbishment of the Burns Monument, Brig o’Doon and Auld Kirk.
At a total cost of almost £20m, the programme is the largest, most ambitious project the National Trust charity has attempted, but it would not have been possible without the support of other organisations.
Chairwoman Shonaig Macpherson said: “As a charity we feel honoured to be responsible for this project and we appreciate that, for the large part, it is only possible thanks to our major funders in particular the Heritage Lottery Fund.”
But none of this would be possible without the cooperation of the Burns Monument Trust, who own most of the Burns landmarks and collections in Alloway.
Their chairman John Duncan said: “Since 1814, the Burns Monument Trust has shouldered the responsibility of preserving the built heritage and collections of Burns.
“The lottery funding eases the passing of that responsibility to the National Trust for Scotland and no safer hands could be found — we are confident that the future of all that we have preserved, built up and cared for over these many years is secure.”
Many Burns enthusiasts and tourists will come to the Alloway area when the new museum opens, boosting the local economy and raising the profile of Ayrshire in general.
Local politicians are also backing the project and Provost Winifred Sloan met representatives from the organisations involved at Burns Cottage to celebrate the good news.
She said: “I am very excited about this project that will see a new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum created, a fitting tribute to our national Bard.
“People come from all over the world to visit the birth place of Burns, to learn more about the world famous Bard and to see the place where he was born and wrote some of his most famous works.
“The new museum will provide modern tasteful surroundings, with the kind of facilities that people expect nowadays.”
MP Sandra Osborne said: “As a trustee of Burns Cottage and Monument for the past 11 years I am absolutely delighted that at last Burns legacy is to be honoured and commemorated with pride thanks to the award of a £5.8 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.”
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