Museum expansion plan depends on Lottery bid

Bexhill Museum has submitted a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund and, if successful, a 1.2 million project can begin.

Curator, Julian Porter, said: "It is a stage one Heritage Lottery Fund application under the title of Museums Renaissance in Bexhill-on-Sea, to develop a new museum in Egerton Park.

"The Bexhill Association will be amalgamating with the Costume Museum next spring. Alongside this will form a new governing body to run the museum.

"The bid is for 30,000, in order to develop the project, the policy making and the design."

The first part of the bid covers the plans and gives the museum the capital to explore designs.

"We will then be asking the Heritage Lottery Fund for about 900,000 towards what will be a 1.2 million project."

So what can be expected for that amount of money?

"We will get a new entrance, shop, tea room and two new galleries. We need the extra space for all the exhibits we will get from the Costume Museum, and because we already have so much in storage.

"We will have another gallery for motor racing and engineering - the Motor Racing and Heritage Group are partners in the project.

"There will also be an education room for more after school classes and groups."

But the road to new improved facilities is a long one.

"It could take up to 6 months to get a reply. I hope we will find out by the end of this year - then we can press on with stage two of the bid.

"Stage two is really the big pot.

"At the moment we have only roughly described what the new museum might be like.

"In stage two, we have to test the theory and work out the very best of the designs."

Julian believes it is about time the museum expanded, not least because there is so much in storage that is yet to be exhibited.

"I think Bexhill deserves it as we have got so much history here, and people haven't seen the full extent of it yet."

"We will be able to get more people through the door and provide a much better experience here. It will be a nicer place to visit. We will even have luxuries like toilets!"

First comes the hard work of museum staff and the support of Bexhill residents and visitors.

"We have got to do a fair amount of fundraising ourselves.

"Apart from what we can hope to get through Rother, we are looking at having to raise at least 140,000."

The mission to raise this money will begin when the project is launched on October 29.