Friends fight to keep Kinneil open
The dispute over the proposed closure of the Kinneil Museum in Bo’ness, Scotland, refuses to go away. Falkirk Council, which …
The dispute over the proposed closure of the Kinneil Museum in Bo'ness, Scotland, refuses to go away. Falkirk Council, which oversees the museum, presented plans earlier this year to close the museum and distribute its collections to nearby sites at Callendar House and the Hippodrome, an old cinema currently being redeveloped into a cultural heritage centre as part of an overall refurbishment of Bo'ness town centre.
The council said it had decided to shut the museum because visitor numbers had fallen to 4,000 per annum and showed no signs of improvement. But a recent survey conducted by the authority showed 89 per cent of residents questioned wanted the museum kept open.
The Friends of Kinneil, an action group led by community councillor Adrian Mahoney, handed in a petition to the council in June featuring 2,000 signatories in favour of retaining Kinneil.
The campaigners cite poor publicity as one of the reasons for the museum's low attendance figures and point to its importance as one of Scotland's major Roman sites - it lies at one end of the Antonine Wall. The site also includes a cottage where James Watt worked on improving the steam engine.
Other cottages on the site currently owned by Kinneil House enjoy B-listed status, which could complicate any redevelopment work. Council environment convener Robert Spears told BBC Scotland that further work had yet to be carried out on the museum. He added that it would not close for at least two years, and a final decision would be taken in autumn.
Paul Stump
The council said it had decided to shut the museum because visitor numbers had fallen to 4,000 per annum and showed no signs of improvement. But a recent survey conducted by the authority showed 89 per cent of residents questioned wanted the museum kept open.
The Friends of Kinneil, an action group led by community councillor Adrian Mahoney, handed in a petition to the council in June featuring 2,000 signatories in favour of retaining Kinneil.
The campaigners cite poor publicity as one of the reasons for the museum's low attendance figures and point to its importance as one of Scotland's major Roman sites - it lies at one end of the Antonine Wall. The site also includes a cottage where James Watt worked on improving the steam engine.
Other cottages on the site currently owned by Kinneil House enjoy B-listed status, which could complicate any redevelopment work. Council environment convener Robert Spears told BBC Scotland that further work had yet to be carried out on the museum. He added that it would not close for at least two years, and a final decision would be taken in autumn.
Paul Stump