Whitaker museum Lotto success shows that where there’s a will...
GOOD news this week for the Whitaker Museum in Rawtenstall – it’s received £100k from the Heritage Lottery Fund to begin planning an expansion.
The Whitaker, which sits in the centre of Rawtenstall’s Whitaker Park, is one of our area’s best-kept secrets.
Sure, many of us locally know of it, but the quality of the exhibitions and events which now take place there mean it’s worthy of a reputation which travels much further.
And maybe the latest plans will allow that to happen.
The £100k, bid for in conjunction with Rossendale council, will be used to develop plans to extend the museum in the barn, stables next door which are currently used by Rossendale council.
The plan would be to provide extra space for exhibitions and also to encourage educational use for people to learn about history, art and culture.
It, all in all, is very good news for the local area, and marks yet another sign that the Whitaker has gone from strength to strength since moving out of local authority control several years ago after Rossendale council had to start finding funding savings.
Rossendale Council has a good track record when it comes to tapping into Lottery funding for projects – the work to improve the centre of Bacup might be controversial in parts, but spending millions on improving the historic buildings in the centre of town is surely a good thing, even if details have still to be debated.
It’s now time for Rossendale council to do the same for two other important community buildings in our area: Haslingden Baths and Helmshore Textile Museum.
Both have fallen victim to budget cuts, but for different reasons.
In the case of Haslingden Baths, the council took the decision to divert a loan it had secured to build a new swimming pool in Haslingden to fund the purchase of the Valley Centre in Rawtenstall.
In one sense, that financial prioritisation makes sense – the bus station and new facilities which will be built in the town centre, and made possible by knocking down the Valley Centre – should make a much greater contribution to the economy of the Valley than a new swimming pool...
But at the same time, it still rankles with many that Rawtenstall’s gain came at the expense of Haslingden, and a precious local facility has been lost for a relatively small annual saving.
Hardworking community volunteers have been working for over two years now, with some council support, to try to re-open the existing pool, which was due to be rebuilt because those in charge of leisure at the council felt it had reached the end of its natural life.
It’s now high time Rossendale council did far more to get that facility back into Haslingden – and be prepared to take a more active role if needs be.
The same is true of Helmshore Textile Museum.
Now closed for pushed on a year, we’ve had many promises from local politicians to get it re-opened. The new Tory administration at Lancashire county council, which owns the mill, has been very quiet about re-opening the museum since taking office.
It’s just our heritage that is in peril here, after all.
Plans to hand it over to other organisations appear to have stalled – but we can’t afford to lose this precious facility.
A plan to make the museum sustainable should be a priority for politicians at every level – MP, county councillor and local councillor.
Could a Heritage Lottery Fund bid once again help Helmshore Textile Museum?
Where there’s a will, there’s a way – as we’ve seen with the Whitaker.