First steps are taken to develop new look museum in Huntly
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TALKS to restore a museum in Huntly have begun.
But in a modern and innovative way, displays and information boards for any future museum provision could be spread throughout the town and not centred on one venue.
Huntly Community Council hosted an online meeting last week to assess interest in re-instating a museum in the town.
Some museum exhibits remain in the Brander Building but the museum, operated by the local authority closed many years ago as part of a round of budget cuts.
Artefacts from Huntly are now preserved in specialist controlled storage at Mintlaw.
It has previously been said that the Brander Building and the remaining display cabinets no longer provide the correct conditions.
Community Council chairman, Tony Gill said his group believed a museum might encourage visitors to spend more time in the town which could lead to them supporting more businesses.
Several people with experience of establishing or running museums joined the meeting.
It was said that a museum could be interactive and in multiple locations to appeal to different generations.
The No 30 development was identified as a possible location for information boards and displays in the multiple use spaces being created there.
Henrike Bird who was instrumental in establishing the Insch Connection Museum in a former railway station building recommended using a Scottish Museums tool kit.
She said:"It's important to identify who the visitors might be. Different groups need to be served differently."
Andrew Raeburn suggested films and multi media be used to engage with young people and said it was important to establish what the vision was for a museum.
Janice McPherson put forward the idea that that artefacts could be shown virtually ahead of a physical museum space being created.
Another meeting is planned for 7pm on Thursday, September 30 in the Linden Centre with an option for people to join by zoom.
