Maryport residents are invited to shape the future of the town’s new Maritime Museum at a drop-in event on Monday 23 October 2023.
The session takes place from 10am to 4pm at the temporary pop-up museum in the shop at the junction of Curzon Street and Senhouse Street and everyone is welcome. There will even be some spooky games and objects to handle.
The event will be run by The Creative Core, the company which has won the tender to design and fit out the new museum which will open in 2024 in Christ Church on Maryport’s historic harbourside.
They are specialists in creating visitor experiences for museums, heritage, and cultural environments, telling stories, developing interactive displays, and encouraging people to participate and engage with their heritage. Their previous projects include the award-winning Museum of Making in Derby, creating an immersive indoor forest at The Story Museum in Oxford, and designing the TT Gallery at the Manx Museum.
Now they want to work their magic in Maryport, giving shape to an environment which appeals to locals and visitors alike. They’ll be using some of the Maritime Museum’s key exhibits to discover what those who live here think makes Maryport special. They want to tell the town’s stories and showcase its achievements in this new space, discovering the public’s favourite tales and what resonates with them.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has contributed to the pop-up which will see many artefacts from Maryport’s seafaring past go on show. From the town’s ties to the Titanic and the White Star Line, as well as its growth from tiny settlement to thriving port, and its shipbuilding, fishing and sailing industries, there will be plenty to see.
The pop-up museum’s temporary home on Curzon Street is also part of the wider transformation of Maryport. The building’s original architecture has been restored as part of the town’s Shopfront Scheme, funded by Historic England’s Heritage Action Zone. In addition, the upper floors are being turned into new homes through the Love Maryport Living project which is restoring more town centre accommodation and is supported by the Government’s Future High Streets Fund.
Leader of Cumberland Council, Councillor Mark Fryer, said:
“This drop-in event is the first of many initiatives planned to really engage the people of Maryport in the Maritime Museum’s future. We will be doing school outreach visits, community sessions and hard hat tours over the coming months to ensure local people make their mark on this project.”