History centre costs rise but work is under way
Staffordshire History Centre project costs have soared by more than £1.5m in less than two years – but extra funding has been secured to allow work on the ambitious project to begin.
In summer 2021 Staffordshire County Council and William Salt Library Trust were celebrating landing a £3.96m windfall from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to make dreams of a new history centre in Stafford town centre a reality.
The total project cost was said to be £7.1m at the time and more than £3m had been raised through county council funding grants, donations from local organisations and friends and contributions from volunteers.
But since then costs of materials and energy have gone up – and construction work due to start at the Eastgate Street site in November 2022 was delayed until additional external funding could be secured.
The project cost has now increased to £8.78m, a report presented to Tuesday’s Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Joint Archives Committee meeting said. But work to build the new centre has now started after an extra £1.289m external funding was secured to enable construction to begin.
This includes £250,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund monies awarded to Stafford Borough Council by the Government in December 2022, which will contribute to public realm work including a green walkway through the site connecting North Walls to Eastgate Street.
A Wolfson Foundation grant of £100,000 has been secured for the Interpretation Plan for the centre and the National Lottery Heritage Fund approved a grant uplift of up to £894,699 in November 2022, the report said.
It added: “The Staffordshire History Centre was granted permission to start by the Heritage Fund in November 2021 at a time when the UK was emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Project Board Team were aware that managing costs in this climate would be challenging.
“In addition the impact of rising energy costs in 2022 and inflation contributed to a complex environment. To mitigate against rising costs the team took pre-emptive action.
“It identified several external funding opportunities before the full construction costs were known. Staffordshire County Council also increased its capital contribution to the project.
“Staffordshire County Council’s climate change team allocated £28,048 as a contribution towards the direct project costs associated with the green roof and air source heat pumps in the new strongrooms. Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet approved an additional £250,000 towards the project on 14 December 2022.
“The total cost of the project is now £8,780,239 with a grant of £4,858,699 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The total match funding is £3,921,540 which includes Staffordshire County Council funding, grants from other organisations, donations from the friends of the services and in-kind contributions from volunteers.”
A four-storey extension is planned for the existing Staffordshire Record Office in Stafford’s Eastgate Street. And a modern glazed link will be created between the office and the William Salt Library to form a new entrance and permanent exhibition space to showcase the county’s collections.
Other facilities will include modern reading areas and research labs, as well as additional strong rooms to provide space for a further 55 years of collections. A new learning programme is being created for schools, alongside courses for adult learners, and there will also be a series of touring exhibitions and projects to bring the area’s heritage to communities across the county.
The programme for completing construction of the centre has been delayed by around 10 months, the report to Tuesday’s meeting said. This is due to “a more complex procurement process, reviewing project costs, and submitting additional grant requests.”
Construction is now expected to be completed in summer 2024. Victoria Wilson, the county council’s cabinet member for communities and culture, said: “I thank the team for the invaluable work they have carried out.
“The William Salt Library was fantastic but this is going to be even better. Hopefully in autumn 2024 we will be cutting the ribbon and allowing local people in to have a look.”
Protective fencing has now gone up on site. Councillor Jonathan Price, Cabinet Member for Education (and SEND), said: “It’s great to see work on our fantastic new history centre get underway.
“We’re all incredibly excited about the project. Not only will it provide a brand-new heritage attraction for the county, but it will bring together our amazing collections in one place.
Mithra Tonking, chair of the William Salt Library Trust, said: “The William Salt Library Trustees are delighted that construction work is now under way. The Staffordshire History Centre project offers a new and exciting future for a much-loved listed building in the centre of Stafford, as well as greatly improved storage and management of the wide-ranging and unique William Salt Library collection of material, which covers every aspect of Staffordshire’s heritage.”
Frances Beatty, Stafford Borough Council’s cabinet member for economic development and planning, said: “We are really pleased to have been able to support this wonderful addition to our county town. It’s yet another demonstration of the huge investment going on in and around the area.
“The work on the History Centre gets underway only a short walk from where we have already started the renovation of the Market Square which is the first phase of the major transformation of our town centre. But as well as the massive investment we are attracting to the county town, educational and research facilities such as the History Centre will bring more visitors to Stafford and that provides a further boost for the local economy. “
