The Move from Newport to East Cowes

What is changing?  We are moving our main collection of fifty heritage boats from Newport to East Cowes.  Our new home will the Albany Building, which is one street back from the Esplanade, and part of the SEEDA estate.  We won’t be in the same building as our existing gallery, but within a stone's throw.  For pictures of our progress click here.

Our new building will house both the collection of boats and our restoration and repair workshops.  Viewing windows will allow visitors to see the workshops, and we are hoping to be able to offer things like traditional boat maintenance courses to preserve and develop skills.

Why are we moving?  For some time there has been a desire to relocate the Museum to Cowes.  The East Cowes Structure Plan provides for a Maritime Heritage Centre of which we are lead partner; opening our Gallery in East Cowes will be the first step towards this, relocating our main collection there is the next step.

The timing however has been very much dictated by circumstances –  our landlord at Seaclose, the IW Council, would like vacant procession of our current premises, and we have received a very generous offer of premises from SEEDA, the local development agency, in East Cowes.

What are the longer term plans?  The intention is East Cowes will be our long term home, however the building we are moving into is subject to a five year lease and in the longer term is zoned for redevelopment as part of the East Cowes Structure plan.  The plan provides for the Museum to relocate elsewhere in the Cowes Waterfront area.

Bearing this in mind, we are limiting the amount of spend on structural repairs and physical alterations to the property, and as far as possible we are ensuring that our spend is portable, eg demountable internal partitions rather than fixed walls.

How are we funding the move? Our budget is £15,000 and we are approaching local businesses, seeking lottery grants and investigating other sources.

Donations – large and small are welcome.  Download a donation form here and post it back to us.