Mines, money and ministers
It's not unusual to find groups of things in museums. Artefacts, costumes, fossils. But government ministers?
That was the situation at the Scottish Mining Museum where Culture Minister Mike Russell was announcing a one off grant of £1.3m for urgent repairs to A-listed buildings on the site of the Lady Victoria colliery, which the museum has occupied since 1984.
Delighted as they were to receive the grant, it falls short of the £2.5m required for the repairs and fails to address the shortfall in revenue funding which has troubled the museum trust since the start of the year when Midlothian Council and Historic Scotland withdrew their support.
The council has long argued that if the mining museum is truly a national museum, then the government needs to take more responsibility.
Mr Russell was quick to point out the government already funds the Scottish Mining Museum to the tune of £200,000 - and that in these tough times, it's unlikely to be able to raise any more without cutting costs elsewhere.
Which is where another former minister - former First Minister Henry McLeish comes in. He took over as chairman of the trust which runs the museum last October.
He admits they've yet to resolve the funding issue - but is confident the new cash will help them lever further funding until 2010. Beyond that, there's still uncertainty.
Enter yet another former minister - Rhona Brankin, once the culture minister, whose constituency covers Newtongrange where the mining museum is based.
She presided over a funding crisis herself - helping establish the emergency funding pot which now provides funding for all three national industrial museums.
But she believes this government has to go even further and - as is the case in England and Wales - include the Scottish Mining Museum in its circle of national museums, thus guaranteeing secure funding.
No such promises from Mr Russell (perhaps he wondered why Ms Brankin didn't pursue her own idea when roles were reversed and she was culture minister while he played shadow) but he does promise some serious brainstorming in the museum sector, which he believes will finally throw up a solution.
Not London’s South Bank, but the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow - every bit as lively in cultural terms as its namesake. I’m Pauline McLean, 91Èȱ¬ Scotland’s arts correspondent, and I’ll be blogging here about arts events and issues happening across the country.
Comment number 1.
At 18th Mar 2009, newsjock wrote:Full marks to Midlothian Council !
They realised that they were obtaining a poor return on their investment in the Mining Museum, and so withdrew their sponsorship.
In harsh times, when economies have to be sought across the board, this was a sound choice for Midlothian rate payers, if rather sad for all of us who have an affection for the museum.
If insufficient funds cannot be found, the museum may have to close in the short term. That may stimulate new funding, if the Lady Victoria Museum is sorely missed.
PS Pauline, you need to replace that photo of yourself by the Armadillo. It really doesn't do you justice !
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Comment number 2.
At 18th Mar 2009, kaybraes wrote:I worked underground in the Lady in the late fifties and sixties, but I found the museum tatty and it appeared to be run by people who couldn't care less, the service in the tearoom was non existent and the so called souvenirs on sale could and propably were "made in China ". Affection for the Lady yes, for the museum , no!
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