Burnet Building - Library/Museum

[hoots the scoop]

As many of us will know the Library will be moving from its current location in Hall Street/St John Street to the new Aqualibrium.

The latest suggestion is that the Council's Corporate Services will be moving from their current location at Dell Road to the Burnet Building (current Library). This move may secure the future of the building but what are peoples views on this possibility?

Led to believe that if this goes ahead the offices at Kirkland, Dell Road will be sold off.

[DMS Graphics]

I would like to see a use other than council offices.

I thought the building was originally gifted to the people of Campbeltown to be used as a Library or Museum, not council offices. I suppose the council will say the public will still have access to the museum, which lets them off the hook.

What about the Heritage Centre, might they not be interested in the empty space inside. Heritage Centre and Museum under one roof

What about planning permission for change of use
And the legal status if it was a gift to Campbeltown, don't the people have a say

I am also not convinced about the long term viability of the Aqualibrium. If it closed where would the Library move to, with it's old location being filled with offices.

[GarySutherland]

Planning Permission? For a council project? I thought they just had a big rubber stamp that printed "Do What You Want" for cases like that?

Cheers
Gary

[take_a_pop]

Seems to me to be a bloody waste of a lovely building such as the library, to turn it into council offices, but one plus side to this propossed move is, we can have all our old relics under one roof. There is quite a few auld timers up there in Dell Rd reaching museum age.

[GarySutherland]

I agree. A lovely old building, and hardly the sort of place that would lend itself to becoming offices unless they were going to gut the interior.

Cheers
Gary

[LO]

I agree. A lovely old building, and hardly the sort of place that would lend itself to becoming offices unless they were going to gut the interior.

Cheers
Gary

From what I've heard, because the building is "A" listed inside and outside they can't just go ahead and gut it. Any proposal to do so would have to be refered to the Scottish Executive and at this point public pressure and expert opinion can be brought to bear. It is unlikely that they will be able to justify what would ammount to cultural vandalism. However, it still doesn't answer the question about what should be done with the building.

While I'm on, the condition of the Town Hall is also of major concern. Many of us walk or drive past it but how often do we stop and actually look at it? If you walk along Kirk Street or stop on the pavement across the road and see the state of this Campbeltown icon it is completely unacceptable.

Maybe a wee job here for our intrepid digital snappers?.

How about a thread called "Hall of Shame" so as we can keep a public pictorial record of the town's crumbling assets assets which have been entrusted to Argyll and Bute Council?

[Gus]

I thought 1 of the benefits of moving the library to new premises was so that the museum could now display a number of pieces that couldn't previously be displayed because of lack of space - anyway its too good a building to waste as council offices.

[Bobbie En Tejas]

I'm not sure if the link to the image will show right here, doesn't seem my photobucket pics do (if not, just cut and paste), but I took the pic below from inside the library looking up at the dome. It is beautiful inside, thick dark wood and the dome. It definitely would be a shame if someone changed anything.





And the above from the outside. What will they do with the Linda McCartney memorial?

[dgraves]

Beautiful pictures, Bobbie- postcard quality. It would be criminal to change it.

[WC1]

A couple of years back, when I was Chairman of the Community Business, I got together with Marij van Helm, the Council's person in charge of museums (actually museum - I understand the Campbeltown Museum is the only one A&B actually own) and Brian Park of Page and Park the architects and we came up with a scheme for "The Mull of Kintyre Centre for the Visual and Performing Arts". This would have developed a link between the cinema and the Burnet building via the back yard of the cinema, creating a new foyer area for the cinema, a glass-fronted cafe/bar overlooking the Linda McCartney garden, a flexible space to the back of the cinema which would have been Screen 2/studio theatre, and another space for travelling exhibitions. The Burnet building would have been used as an expanded museum and art gallery with small studio spaces available for local artists etc. Brian drew up outline plans, which should still be extant somewhere. It would take money, of course . . .

[Bobbie En Tejas]

Wow, WC, what an awesome idea!