Submission day is drawing near! So it’s time for an update on the different strands of work which form part of the stage 1 development project.
Collections Conservation Management & Maintenance Plan
Completed by Elizabeth Oxborrow-Cowan Associates – Elizabeth herself, and Chris Woods of the National Conservation Service.
The Plan gives a description and statement of significance of the archival and special collections we hold. It outlines the physical condition of the collections, and sets out 10 year plans for improving this as well as for cataloguing. It’s been approved by the Project Steering Group. Over the coming weeks I’ll be publishing extracts about the collections from the Plan on the blog.
Activity Plan
Being completed by Janice Tullock Associates – Janice herself, with Jane Davies and Emma Parsons.
Janice, Jane and Emma have completed an extensive round of consultation with our partners and potential audiences, as well as undertaking a lot of statistical research. This contextual work has then been pulled together into the Activity Plan which sets out what the project will deliver in stage 2, and why these proposals are being made, as well as how much it will cost and how the work will be done.
This Plan is in its final stages and has been approved in outline by the Project Steering Group. Many of our partners are excited about the potential that the Activity Plan describes and we are all looking forward to being able to deliver it if HLF fund us at stage 2! Once finalised I’ll again publish extracts on this blog.
Designs
Keith Hardcastle, Daniel Harvey and Amber Yorke in the Leeds office of Darnton EGS have been working on the designs and plans for the proposed archive centre, along with the technical consultants including Chris Parker at Wide Sky Design on the multimedia and audio-visual elements of the design.
The plans incorporate the results of the consultation undertaken by Janice Tullock Associates to ensure that the project delivers a physical environment which meets the needs of our audiences as well as giving value for money. Once finalised I’ll again make information available on the blog.
In addition to these important documents a range of project management documentation like the budget & cashflow, business plan, risk register and so on is being worked on for submission. This all helps give HLF confidence (we hope!) that the project can be successfully delivered.
The project team has been brilliantly supported throughout stage 1 by our Steering Group and Project Sponsor Professor Tim Thornton. The Steering Group includes representatives of our chief partners: Rugby League Cares, Sound and Music, West Yorkshire Archive Service and Kirklees Museums and Galleries.