KENT NEWS: The Kent fire service museum urgently needs a new home.
Fire chiefs have reluctantly been forced to move it from their Maidstone headquarters, and are now hunting for a new location to house the collection.
Fire service historian Roger Mardon, from Canterbury, said he was sad about the closure, but delighted his campaign to keep the collection together has been successful.
He said: “In my view, the museum should preferably be maintained at service headquarters but, if that were not to be, it is important to preserve the collection intact
.
“There was unanimous support [at the Kent Fire and Rescue Authority’s planning and performance committee] for the principle of keeping the collection together.
“A project team, including representatives of the interested parties, is to be established to develop plans for a virtual [online] museum and for rehousing the artefacts.
“Committee chairman Keith Ferrin made it clear it was not the intention to close the existing museum straight away and he undertook that everything possible would be done to rehouse the collection in one place.
“Whilst it is disappointing the museum will have to move, I am encouraged by this support for keeping the collection together. Every effort must now be made to find somewhere where this can be done.”
The museum opens one day a week and includes artefacts including videos of fire, photographs, and a hollowed out tree trunk used as an underground water main.
The fire service said: “We have teams of staff who need to be located at our HQ in order to run the service and we do not have room to house them. This means we have to look at all options and freeing up space taken up by the museum has to be considered.”
POSTED: 07/02/2010 18:00:00
Bookmark with:
Email to a friend: