Mu ar deidhinn

The museum has been growing! In 2011 we took the bold decision to abolish admission charges and become more inclusive.  Consequently, visitor numbers have soared from 9,000 per year to 55,756 visitors in 2023. As the result of our success the current museum is no longer fit for purpose, with limited gallery space, stores bursting at the seams, poor accessibility, and no dedicated learning or community spaces. 

The museum has already made excellent progress: 

• Thanks to the support of the Scottish Land Fund, we purchased No. 40 High Street in 2017.  This property will deliver an important retail space for us on Fort William High Street, supporting a sustainable economic future for the museum.  The upper level of the property will be utilised for volunteer spaces. 
• Scottish Land Fund awarded funds to purchase a property at Monzie Square and land behind the museum. The Monzie Square building will be regenerated and opened as a volunteer hub in 2024, thanks to a legacy from Dr David Wood and donations from local volunteer community groups 2023.  The land will be utilised to create an enclosed green space in the town centre that can be used by schools, visitors, and community groups. 
• A Museum Galleries Scotland Museum Development Fund award funded the redevelopment our Jacobite gallery in 2022.  This improved exhibition conditions and allowed us to exhibit collections in store. 
• The National Heritage Lottery Fund have funded a schools’ project for the 2023/4 academic year enabling us to work with local schools to reconnect children with culture and heritage after the pandemic.4 
• The National Lottery Community Fund (Scotland) funded a community project in 2023/4 helping us to engage vulnerable adults, children, and our community with collections through a series of events. 
• In 2024 Museums Galleries Scotland have awarded funding for the museum to improve lighting in its display cases.

We plan to create exciting new community, learning, retail, and gallery spaces to improve the visitor experience and generate new opportunities for community and visitor engagement. 

The redevelopment of the museum into two adjacent properties will considerably increase the size of the museum. The goals of the project are to: 

• Improve accessibility to the museum, both physically and sensory.  We are a listed building with no wheelchair access to the upper levels of the building. The expansion will improve access to the building to ensure that there are no barriers for anyone wishing to visit. 

• Create learning spaces for schools.  We have a fantastic working relationship with local schools but must close one of our most popular exhibitions to the public for schools’ activities. A dedicated educational space will be a huge asset to schools in the West Highlands, as pupils will have the opportunity to interact with the rich and varied history of the region. 
• Create community spaces.  We have been working closely with community groups to engage people with our collections.  We can only host activities during winter when the museum is quiet, or in the evenings when the museum is closed. A purpose built community space will generate expanded community engagement. 
• Improve the display exhibitions and reconsider the stories we tell. The museum is 100 years old and has run out of space.  Increased gallery space will enable visitors to better engage with our collections that are currently in store.  An expanded temporary exhibition space that will allow us to share collections with visitors, host touring exhibitions, and provide a space for community groups to deliver exhibitions at the museum. 
• Create a High Street retail space.  The retail space will fund the museum at an operational level providing a sustainable future. 
• Create a sustainable museum.  The current building needs to be modernised to ensure it fit for purpose and implementing environmental best practices. 
• Create a purpose built store.  To care and protect our collections for future generations.  We have been collecting West Highland heritage for more than 100 years.  We have two important collections in our care – the Jacobite Collection and the Alexander Carmichael Collection of Gaelic material culture. 
• To provide a world class heritage attraction. To be enjoyed by our community and visitors to the area. 

We will be continuing our consultation with heritage groups, schools, local community groups, individuals, architects, exhibition designers, our collections and learning committee, and staff to work together to understand our communities’ needs, interests and wishes, as well as create opportunities to gather new knowledge, stories and experiences of the West Highlands. 

This will help shape how the displays in the refurbished museum look and the stories we tell. 

We will be applying to the National Lottery Heritage Fund in May 2024 for financial support for our project. 

• Volunteer.  Check out volunteer opportunities at the museum and help shape our future.    

We are looking for project volunteers to join our fundraising team and collections review team.   

Link to volunteer page and recruitment page 

• Donate.  Please support our project by contributing. 
  
  
  
  
  

   

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