Summer start for a new era at the fire museum
ROCHDALE’S fire service museum is due to open to the public this summer, showcasing historic fire engines, technological advancements, interactive displays, a children’s play area, and a cafe.
The work on the £3m project, which was originally due to open Christmas 2020, is now almost complete, after it began in January 2020.
The Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum will be located in the main fire engine ‘appliance room’ of Rochdale’s former Maclure Road fire station, which will be fully restored to its 1930s condition, including the re-fitting of original teak folding doors on the front.
The appliance room, also known as the engine house, will be reinstated to its full eight-bay size, with all later interventions and sub-divisions removed to re-create the original impressive scale and appearance.
The new display space will be approximately four times the size of the old museum, allowing for many more items from the collection – including all the full-sized fire engines – to be exhibited together for the first time.
The main entrance will be through one of the former appliance room doors facing Maclure Road, which will give access to the reception point and museum shop.
There will also be a link to a cafe next to the museum.
The displays will tell the story of firefighting in Greater Manchester, through objects images and period tableaux, bringing to life the characters, fires and incidents and the technological advancements which have made the fire and rescue service what it is today.
As well as the proud story of local fire brigades, the museum will also commemorate the many fire engineering and manufacturing companies in Greater Manchester, at one time famous for producing fire engines, hose, ladders, sprinklers and other important elements in the world of firefighting.
The highly successful schools service will benefit from a new, dedicated education suite incorporating every facility.
This will be located above the museum with full lift access available.
A new feature will be a purpose-built library and archive located in the former control room.
For the first time our important archives and images collections will be fully accessible to researchers.
The museum holds many thousands of images showing local fires and fire service subjects, along with moving images, oral history recordings and a vast catalogue of books, documents, periodicals and numerous other paper items.
A children’s play area will be located inside the new museum and there will be also be interactive displays.