It's a moving experience at the museum

Published on Monday 18 February 2008 08:20

Staff are packing precious artefacts in Chambers Street to make way for major renovation work

IN the centre of a gallery which once housed one of the most loved Royal Museum of Scotland collections, stands an array of large and distinctively-shaped bubble-wrapped packages.

Two elephant-shaped parcels nestle beside that of a giraffe, its wrapped head poking out from behind a stack of wooden packing crates while, hanging from the ceiling above them, is the silhouette of a porpoise.

This room used to house the natural history collection – where visitors could marvel at every detail of these still and unblinking wild beasts, some of which are close to 100 years old.

Now, the gallery is silent, closed to the public, and the animals are packed, ready to make their move from the Chambers Street museum to a specialist storage facility in Granton to allow work to begin on a 46-million revamp.

"Each thing we have to pack has to be considered on its own merits," says Charles Stable, one of eight museum workers responsible for the careful operation.

"We have to cover ourselves for every eventuality, making sure the objects are carefully packed so they don't move in transit."

The Royal Museum has a collection of four million artefacts. More than 1.5 million items, mainly small, have been packed and moved since late last year. Now Charles and his team will begin the task of packing and shifting a further one million – a job that must be completed by April so construction work can begin.

Charles, 38, the museum's collection project officer, leads the way into a basement storage room full of rows of cupboards each of which had to have its delicate contents removed, packed and secured before being moved. "Packing up this room has been like a game of chess," he says.

What remains in this room is a collection of bicycles – a sturdy iron boneshaker dating from the 1880s hangs from the ceiling near to a BMX and a Chopper from a century later.

The vaulted room, which will soon be opened out to become part of the museum's main entrance, is also the area where a collection of model ships currently wait to be packed.

The museum boasts more than 200 of these colourful and delicate models – some of which were made by French prisoners of war in the Napoleonic era.

"This is our biggest logistical challenge – these are the items that have the most potential to be damaged," says Charles, referring to the miniature ships that are lined up next to one another on the temporary shelving. "We have to be so careful of the rigging.

"We can't use bubble wrap so it's really a case of putting padding around them and securing each of the ships in a wooden frame within the crates so they don't move in transit."

Planning for the renovations has been going on since 2003 when museum managers began drawing up their blueprint of the masterplan launched two years later.

It will be well worth the effort as curators will be able to display twice as many objects – there will be a total of 16 new galleries –and the learning facilities will triple.

While April will see half of the Royal Museum, including the iconic main hall, close to the public, exhibitions will continue in the remaining half and the adjoining Museum of Scotland.

The colourful Connect and Communicate galleries, the home of Dolly the cloned sheep, and the Scottish history galleries will also remain open.

"I think for the people working on this project, everyone is aware that they are involved in something that's going to make a really big difference to the visitor experience in Edinburgh and Scotland," says Jem Fraser, the museum's project director.

"Lots of people come to Edinburgh for culture and conferences and I see the museum as an educational and economic endeavour and we hope this work will make it a very current and relevant place."

When the building reopens in three years time, the transformation will see visitors entering the museum at street level into a new floor beneath the main hall which currently houses the storage vaults.

This spacious area will be home to a restaurant, shop, visitor information centre and a selection of iconic treasures from the collections. Access to the restored main hall, renamed the Grand Gallery, will be via new glass lifts.

New displays about the natural world will demonstrate the diversity and evolution of the animal kingdom and a custom-made Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton will take centre stage, its plaster cast bones taken from fossils in the American west.

Technology, video and interactive touch screens will form the cornerstone of displays as well as galleries that explore how people across the globe live their lives and express themselves through music, art and performance.

It is hoped the modern facilities will help to attract one million visitors a year – an increase of 150,000 on current levels.

Before all this can begin, the artefacts must be safely transported by specialist removers to the ten-acre storage facility at Granton.

"It's a highly skilled job," says Jem, 65, who joined the museum nine years ago as head of education and was seconded to the renovation project. "All the items are precious, whether a specimen insect or glass exhibit from our decorative arts collection. There are lots of awkward shapes to deal with so its a question of judgement. We have brought in specialist removers but most of the packing of artefacts is done by staff."

&#149 To find out more about the plans for the Royal Museum visit the Your Museum Is Changing exhibition which runs at the National Museum until 27 April.

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

1861: Prince Albert lays the foundation stone for what was then called the Industrial Museum of Scotland.

1864: The Museum is renamed the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art.

1866: What is now known as the east wing of the museum and approximately half of the main hall is opened by Prince Alfred.

1867: In its first full year of operation, the museum attracts around 275,000 visitors.

1890: The building is completed, including main hall and galleries on south side.

1904: The museum is renamed the Royal Scottish Museum.

1923: Extension is completed to the south of original building.

1939-43: Building is used as a medical supply store.

1967: Further extension to the south completed.

1997: Renamed the Royal Museum.

1998: The Museum of Scotland, adjacent to the Royal Museum building, opens to the public.

2006: The Chambers Street site is renamed the National Museum of Scotland.