The story about the National Museums and Galleries of Wales (NMGW) worker who fell through a floor because it was so rotten was certainly embarrassing to the Welsh institution. As was the report unearthed by the National Audit Office about the two boats stored in the open which had to be de-accessioned after a tree fell on them.
But officials at the NGMW's eight sites are quietly pleased that the storage and cataloguing issues unearthed by the auditor general, and enlarged on in National Assembly for Wales audit committee evidence sessions, may soon be resolved.
The Assembly government has allocated £3.5m for new storage facilities. The original report - Collections Management at the NMGW - stated that 21 per cent of storage space was poor and 22 per cent was very poor. Michael Houlihan, the director general of the NMGW, said current plans would see a good rating for 90 per cent of storage space achieved by 2006-07.
John Williams-Davies, the director of the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans, who is responsible for all the historic mu-seums, said the issue of the employee who fell through the floor had little to do with the auditor general's report. It happened in a back room at St Fagans, which used to be a store, but is no longer used for that purpose.
The audit hearings coincide with several changes of emphasis at the NMGW. The biggest change has been the opening of a large industrial unit at Nantgarw, near Cardiff, to house the contents of the Industrial and Maritime Museum in Cardiff Bay and to act as a conservation centre.
The original intention was to develop the old colliery site as a national store, but emphasis has now switched to holding material regionally. This will be combined with moves to develop stores as walk-through facilities or with facilitated access. Houlihan said that as well as allowing the public access to the reserve collections this sort of project could open up new funding streams.
St Fagans has been the big problem, with material crammed so tightly that items are inaccessible. The museum will now get a new agriculture and vehicles store. Its design 'will be a challenge for the architects', said Williams-Davies.
The furniture store at St Fagans will be doubled in size and Nantgarw will be extended to house material currently stored in the main museum in Cathays Park in central Cardiff, where galleries will be returned to public use.
Clive Betts
But officials at the NGMW's eight sites are quietly pleased that the storage and cataloguing issues unearthed by the auditor general, and enlarged on in National Assembly for Wales audit committee evidence sessions, may soon be resolved.
The Assembly government has allocated £3.5m for new storage facilities. The original report - Collections Management at the NMGW - stated that 21 per cent of storage space was poor and 22 per cent was very poor. Michael Houlihan, the director general of the NMGW, said current plans would see a good rating for 90 per cent of storage space achieved by 2006-07.
John Williams-Davies, the director of the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans, who is responsible for all the historic mu-seums, said the issue of the employee who fell through the floor had little to do with the auditor general's report. It happened in a back room at St Fagans, which used to be a store, but is no longer used for that purpose.
The audit hearings coincide with several changes of emphasis at the NMGW. The biggest change has been the opening of a large industrial unit at Nantgarw, near Cardiff, to house the contents of the Industrial and Maritime Museum in Cardiff Bay and to act as a conservation centre.
The original intention was to develop the old colliery site as a national store, but emphasis has now switched to holding material regionally. This will be combined with moves to develop stores as walk-through facilities or with facilitated access. Houlihan said that as well as allowing the public access to the reserve collections this sort of project could open up new funding streams.
St Fagans has been the big problem, with material crammed so tightly that items are inaccessible. The museum will now get a new agriculture and vehicles store. Its design 'will be a challenge for the architects', said Williams-Davies.
The furniture store at St Fagans will be doubled in size and Nantgarw will be extended to house material currently stored in the main museum in Cathays Park in central Cardiff, where galleries will be returned to public use.
Clive Betts
