Sailing into the future: £12m Maritime Museum refurb gets under way
Picture credits: Hull City Council's Maritime Project
By Simon Bristow
A jewel in the crown of Hull’s maritime heritage is being expertly restored, with a sneak preview of the site provided today.
The Grade II*-listed Maritime Museum is undergoing a £12m renovation that will bring it back to its 1870s architectural heyday as a dock office, while also ensuring it is a visitor attraction fit for the 21st century.
It will offer access to areas the public have never been admitted to before, and have 50 per cent more artefacts from its “world-class” collections on display.
Reporters were given a guided tour of the site today, as work by award-winning heritage contractor Simpson continued.
The tour began in the beautifully ornate “court room” on the first floor, where VIPs and dignitaries were once entertained.
“They would have seen the ships sailing past the windows and the money coming and going,” said Robin Diaper, curator of maritime and social history for Hull Museums. “It’s our intention to make it the best room in Hull.”
On the expansive ground floor where now there are temporary wooden walkways and the sound of sawing, there will be an immaculate oak floor befitting the stature of the room.
This was once the Wharfage Department, the biggest office in the building, where visiting merchants, ship owners and captains would walk breezily in off the dock outside. It was more recently the whaling gallery.
One of the building’s most recognisable features is its three domes, one of which will be open to the public for the first time, offering panoramic views across the city.
Mr Diaper said the domes could be disorienting, an effect that will be mitigated by a new central atrium.
A new three-storey foyer will draw people into the heart of the building, providing a visually stunning and thematic introduction to the galleries beyond. This will be created by re-opening up the original light-well that helped to illuminate the Victorian dock offices.
There will also be an extended gift shop and a new cafe.
The project, which began in earnest in January, is being funded by Hull City Council and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
City council leader, Councillor Daren Hale, said: “The refurbishment of the Hull Maritime Museum is a significant milestone for the Hull Maritime project. It will be great to see the transformation as it progresses, creating a museum that will attract new and more diverse visitors.
“This major investment will ensure the stories of Hull’s maritime past will continue to be told, and importantly in new and engaging ways to showcase our significant collections to the world.
“Whilst we will all miss visiting the museum and its collection, this work is vital to its future and the result will be well worth the wait.”
David Renwick, director, England North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “It is fantastic news that, thanks to the National Lottery players, the Hull Maritime Museum is now entering its renovation phase, a significant milestone for the Hull Maritime City project which we are proud to support.
“As work also progresses at the former Dock Office Chambers and on the two iconic historic ships, the Arctic Corsair and the Spurn Lightship, we are looking forward to witnessing the transformation that Hull Maritime is bringing to Hull.
“We know that heritage in the North can play a huge role in bringing people together and creating a sense of pride in people’s hometowns and cities, and in turn boosting the local economy, and this project is a fantastic example of that.”
Simpson managing director Andrew Gatenby said: “We are proud to be the main contractor on the works to the historic Hull Maritime Museum. We are looking forward to working with Hull City Council in creating a wonderful attraction for all to enjoy.”
Scheduled for completion in early 2025, the museum will have a central role in the city’s Maritime project; Hull’s biggest visitor venture since its UK City of Culture year in 2017.
The museum will mark one end of a tourism trail linked to North End Shipyard at the other side of Queens Gardens, both of which are also the subject of major renovations.
The shipyard will be home to Hull’s last surviving sidewinder trawler, Acrtic Corsair, which is being restored. Another grand old vessel, Spurn Lightship, is also being restored, and will be berthed in Hull Marina near the Holiday Inn.
Along with the separate Albion Square development in the city centre - a mixture of residential, leisure and retail - the projects represent simultaneous multi-million-pound investments in the city that will transform it as a place to live, work, and visit.
Coun Hale said: “This is a city which is confident about its future and has got a plan to bring in lots of visitor attractions that will bring in visitors from within and outside the city.
“It’s about making sure the city is a vibrant, dynamic place where people want to stay, work and live.
“People have fallen back in love with inner city living. When I started as a councillor twenty years ago, about 300 people lived in the city centre; now it’s about 3,000, and that’s set to double in the nest five to ten years, and that sustains retail shops, bars, cafes and restaurants.”
The Maritime Museum building first opened in 1871, and was originally the Dock Offices, belonging to the Hull Dock Company.
The city council took ownership of the Dock Offices in the 1970s.