Greendale’s restore the New Poole Museum

Poole based Greendale Construction have just completed the total refurbishment and extension at The Poole Museum known previously as the Waterfront Museum. The fantastic new museum will be officially reopening its doors to the public on the 14 July 2007 following the £1.3 million project.

The works included construction of a new steel framed glass entrance atrium, and a 3rd floor observation terrace with visitor lounge offering views over Poole Harbour and the Old Town. Other refurbishment elements included the removal of the old brick built harbour commissioners building and roof pitch alterations. The new entrance creates a welcoming space and shows off the interesting historic warehouse building where the main artefacts are displayed. The warehouse building was stripped out to it original functional state and in itself forms part of the museum visitor experience.  Local quarried purbeck stone has been used as floor covering to the main atrium and the external hard landscaping presenting a robust and quality feel to the new entrance public space. The diminishing steel structure provides framed views of old town Poole and Scaplens Court, from view points within the museum it also  echoes the dynamics of the sail boats and square riggers that used to moor up at the Town Quay.

States Rob Hooker, Director of Greendale’s “We have been very pleased to have been the Main Contractors on this worthwhile regeneration community project. It was quite an achievement to meet the museums goals working with the strict budget constraints. I believe we have demonstrated best value undertaking this partnering project with the Borough of Poole and wish the museum every success.” 

The museum, which has been closed for a 21-month refurbishment project, will provide a home for some of the town’s most precious and historic artefacts, including Poole’s 2,300-year-old log boat.

The Iron Age log boat, one of the largest surviving prehistoric artefacts of its kind in the UK, will take pride of place near the entrance of the museum in a specially made glass exhibition case.

Among its many exhibitions, the museum will have a ceramics gallery featuring a collection of world-famous Poole Pottery. The collection is believed to be most significant museum display of Poole Pottery and Carter Tiles in this country.

Refurbished galleries will tell the story of Poole from prehistory through to the 21st century. A series of regular community-based exhibitions will highlight the memories and mementoes of Poole people. The first of these exhibitions, ‘A Sense of Place - Hamworthy Voices’, tells the tale of life in Hamworthy, while ‘Thread’ shows the work of a community textile project based on the history and districts of Poole.