24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage
Gateway to Over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions
Skip to navigation
Refurbishment Work Begins On The New £14.7m Ulster Museum
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
01/10/2007
Image: photo of four people in hard hats and high vis tabards
Arts Minister Edwin Poots; Margaret Elliott, Chair, NMNI; Neil Patton, MD of the Patton Group and Tim Cooke, Chief Executive, NMNI
The building phase of the Ulster Museum refurbishment project has got off the ground with the removal of more than 800,000 artefacts from the current museum.
The construction phase will last 15 months, with the whole scheme costing £14.7 million. Northern Ireland’s Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) is providing up to £9.2 million of this, and the Heritage Lottery Fund £4.5 million.
This investment will provide a modern museum with a dramatic ground floor display, titled the Hall of Wonders, showcasing some of the museum’s iconic objects. There will be increased gallery space and new interactive discovery areas for art, history and science subjects.
Northern Ireland Culture Minister Edwin Poots was present at the launch of the building. “The reinvented museum will meet the demands of an increasingly diverse and sophisticated museum audience,” he said. “I hope the museum will become a centre for sharing knowledge about Northern Ireland’s rich history and I look forward to its completion.”
“I am grateful for the Minister’s and HLF’s support and investment in this much needed refurbishment,” said Margaret Elliott, Chair of National Museums Northern Ireland. “The project is well underway; the first phase has been completed with the decant of the collections and staff from the building. This represents a major logistical exercise involving the cataloguing, tagging and movement of some 800,000 objects to new storage.”
An outreach programme and touring exhibitions are taking the museum’s collections into the community while the museum is closed.
Ulster Museum
Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast, BT9 5AB, Antrim, Northern Ireland
T: 028 9038 3000
Open: Open: Mon-Fri 10.00-17.00, Sat 13.00-17.00, Sun 14.00-17.00
Closed: The Museum will be closed for 2 years from the end of August for major building/redevelopment work.
Related Articles
Belfast's Ulster Museum On Track For Dramatic New Rooftop Gallery
News In Brief - Week Ending 27 2008
Museums Shortlisted For Art Fund Collect Craft Buying Initiative
News In Brief - Week Ending July 29 2007
HLF Digs Deep Into The Past With £17.6m In Heritage Funding
News In Brief - Week Ending August 13 2006
News In Brief - Week Ending August 6 2006
E-news registration
E-mail story to a friend
Tell us what you think
National Portrait Gallery Acquires Tudor Double Portrait
Sheffield Metal Master Wins Museum's Inaugural Design Award
DCMS Launches Consultation Into The Future Of World Heritage Sites
A Selection Of Festive Fairs - Fun Days and Exhibitions
Royal Society Announces Plans For 350th Anniversary
Art Website ArtisanCam Wins Coveted Children's BAFTA
Former Floorboards Of Founding Father Franklin Facilitate Funny Four
Mark Leckey Wins The 2008 Turner Prize And Scoops £25,000
Library Thief Update: Sentencing Adjourned Until January 16, 2009
Fund Aims To Realise Long-Standing Campaign For Cardiff City Museum
Culture Secretary Slaps Export Ban On George I Chandelier
Shakespeare's Globe Costumes Go On Show In Nottingham
Britglyph Art Campaign Uses Web To Make Mass Geoglyph
Inaugural Awards Ceremony Honours UK Arts Philanthropists
Rare Silver Cup Commemorating Coronation Of Charles II Is Saved For The Nation
London Fire Brigade Museum Escapes Closure - For Now
Another Busy Year For Archaeology On Orkney In 2008
Severndroog Castle To Be Restored Thanks To Lottery Grant
Search this site
Home Page
News Page
Exhibition Page
What's On
Trails Page
Website of the Week
Letters Page
Welsh Home
Graphical Version
Copyright © 24 Hour Museum
Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.