Fraserburgh’s Museum of Scottish Lighthouses has been given a generous donation of £100,000 to transform their coastal museum.
Last year, the roof of the museum’s store room was blown off, causing substantial damage to the building.
Thousands of historical and irreplaceable artefacts were exposed to the chaos of the storm, which met the museum’s small team with shock and horror.
The team was then greeted with the daunting task of rescuing collections and figuring out where to start.
Lynda McGuigan, the museum’s manager, said: “Once we recovered ourselves we flew into action and began the long and difficult process of moving almost our entire collection to safety.
“We lost a large exhibition space, offices, archival space, and the main museum store so the task was huge.
“With the help of many individuals and organisations in and around the Fraserburgh area our nationally important collection is safe once again.”
Instead of restoring the museum to its original state, they decided to use this opportunity to enhance it, the displays, and the conservation management of the collection.
‘What came next blew us all away’
Mrs McGuigan said what came next has, “like Storm Arwen, blown us all away and exceeded even our most hopeful expectations”.
After their plans began, they were approached by a Fraserburgh-based company, who after a look over their renovation plans, has now donated £100,000 towards the project.
A spokesperson for the company said: “The financial donation to the Lighthouse Museum recognises the tremendous asset that the Museum is to Fraserburgh in attracting much-needed visitors to the town and bringing value to its economy.
“The museum management sold a very strong vision for the museum going forward and we have every confidence that the investment made will continue to deliver benefits to the town with an enhanced experience for the visitors.
“It is a tremendous asset to Fraserburgh and we wish them every success.”
The renovation of the museum is said to take things to the “next level”.
As well as benefiting the museum, they hope the entire town will benefit from being part of a community with a modern, world-class facility, attracting tourists from all over.
Mrs McGuigan said she is thrilled that this kick-start has provided the museum with the ability to make their vision a reality.
