WORK to complete the internal fit-out of the soon to open Stourbridge Glass Museum has got underway.
The fit out stage at the new museum in Camp Hill, Wordsley, began on January 4 and is set to be completed on February 25.
The internal fit out is now taking shape at Stourbridge Glass Museum
Stourbridge's prestigious glass collection, which has been in storage since the closure of Broadfield House Glass Museum in Kingswinford in 2015, will then be moved into the new cabinets in March ahead of the opening of the brand new Stourbridge Glass Museum on April 9, 2022.
Although building work to create the new museum was completed in June 2016, it has taken the ensuing years to secure funding for and to coordinate the internal fit-out - with efforts hindered over the last two years due to the Covid pandemic.
In February 2020 it was confirmed the project had been awarded £980,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the internal fixtures and fittings and shortly before Christmas 2021 a further £76,900 was given to help cover maintenance, staffing and other costs - bringing the total grant awarded to £1,056,900.
Graham Knowles, chairman of the British Glass Foundation which has spearheaded the project, said: "This is yet more fantastic news and we are very grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund who have been one of our principal supporters from the outset.
"Not only does this funding help further secure our plans but it is also indicative of the faith people have in us in seeing ’The People’s Museum’ open very soon for the benefit of all."
The internal fit out is now taking shape at Stourbridge Glass Museum
The project was also awarded £142,000 from the HLF in 2015 to cover a development plan and came after £2.15m was awarded in 2013 from the European Regional Development Fund to enable developers Complex Development Projects to restore the dilapidated canal-side buildings that once formed the Stuart Works glass factory to create a space for the new museum, new business units and 18 residential units.
The new facility will be able to showcase more of the borough's prized glass collection, comprising some of the finest 18th, 19th and 20th century pieces of glass in the world
The British Glass Foundation has been the driving force behind the project since the foundation was formed by dedicated glass enthusiasts at a launch at Hagley Hall in 2010 in wake of council plans to close Kingswinford's world famous Broadfield House Glass Museum.
A plan to create a new state-of-the-start museum to replace Broadfield, second only to New York's Corning Museum of Glass - the world's largest museum dedicated to glass, was forged and 12 years on the venture is almost ready to open.
The internal fit out is now taking shape at Stourbridge Glass Museum
Experienced museums director Ollie Buckley, from Kinver, was appointed in 2020 to run the new tourist attraction, located opposite the existing Red House Glass Cone museum, which aims to shine a spotlight on Stourbridge's world famous glass industry and which is expected to become a jewel in the crown for the Dudley borough.
To celebrate the near completion of the project - the Contemporary Glass Society has collaborated with the Stourbridge Glass Museum to commission a piece of contemporary glass that will form part of the museum’s permanent collection and be sited in the entrance foyer.
The piece is expected to be installed and unveiled during the International Festival of Glass in August.
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