Natural History Museum
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- alonso wrote:and here’s us thinkin Hutton was being cynical aboveQuote:Joining the Dublin Civic Museum into the never-never land, I am afraid, and a lot more Arts projects likely to follow it, I fear.
Survival of the Fittest, eh?
Nah – too busy pissing away billions into a failure like Anglo Irish in order to prop up ‘the developers bank’
In the meantime, while the Natural History Museum is closed, I wonder if the very interesting collection at the top of the Zoology building in TCD is still viewable?
I haven’t been there for several years, and I’m aware that there has been a reorganisation of Departments in TCD which may have affected things.
It’s obviously not on a par with the Natural History Museum, but still very much worth a look.
the dead zoo is coming back soon 😀
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0414/6news_av.html?2736476,null,230
@Paul Clerkin wrote:
the dead zoo is coming back soon 😀
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0414/6news_av.html?2736476,null,230
Great news. That’s my lunch hours sorted for the next month then.
I love that place – I actually called by today to see if it was open yet. The doors were open but not yet to the public.
I’m delighted there was insufficient money to bugger it up.
😀
Wonderful news. Can’t remember the last time I was in there it was that long ago. The restored staircase looks magnificent.
Arguably the real star of the show is Philip Bromwell. As ever, an outstanding, beautifully crafted report. The only true television journalist in Ireland.
@publicrealm wrote:
I’m delighted there was insufficient money to bugger it up.
Well said.
The recession is a blessing in disguise here in more ways than one.
Not only will the museum be spared the vandalism that would have resulted in the
proposed extension, but any talk of moving the Senate here is also out the window now.Thank heaven for small mercies like credit crunches.
I can’t wait to visit here again when it reopens.
For once we left well enough alone.
I cannot wait to bring my kids – they’re 3 and 5 so would not have seen it. I reckon the eldest will love it. The smallest will just climb the exhibits….
The museum will reopen Thursday 29th April
Just been down to have a look, and while it’s great that it’s open again, I’d have to say I’m disappointed. They’ve made a pig’s ear of the entrance. They’ve built a whopping great wall across it, to create a lobby area. I’m assuming this is so they can regulate the atmosphere within, but it ruins the view of the giant Irish deer (or elk?) just inside the entrance, and means the wow factor you used to have on entering is gone. If they really do need to regulate the atmosphere, would they not have used glass? Maybe it’s futureproofing against pay per view.
Also, because you can’t go upstairs on the balconies on the first floor, (the railings failed the health and safety audit) you no longer get a decent view of the large animals on the first floor. They’re mounted on high plinths, which was fine when you could look down on them from above, but now you’re stuck looking at their undercarriages.
I understand their health and safety concerns regarding the upper balconies’ low railings (well actually I don’t, it’s not like people used to fall over the edge, but let’s pretend for a minute that I do) but I don’t understand why they can’t put a couple of steel cables at an appropriate height. Even if only on some part of the upper balcony, to create a viewing area.
It’s good to see the grand staircase at the back opened to the public – it would be nicer if half of it wasn’t boxed off with later offices.
Still, it’s a great relief to see it re-opened, and for the most part it retains its cluttered Victorian glass case character.
saintleger, from what I understand of it, the reason the second floor balconies are closed off is that they failed fire evacuation times, rather than insufficient balustrade levels. This was one of the main reasons the major refurbishment was proposed: to provide contained fire exits from second floor level. As a result, only staff members and researchers will now be allowed access to this floor, presumably with prior notification of exit procedures.
Can’t wait to see it again, not having been in for many a moon. If there’s one thing that is most irritating about the media coverage of all of this, it is the all-consuming focus on children. One would think it was an exclusively children’s attraction such is the way it has been portrayed by broadcast outlets. Still, it is wonderful to see kids so engaged with and animated about a national heirloom such as this. Long may it continue to enthrall.
Nice to have it back. Sorry to hear about the wall.
Good time to also recall that Dublin must be one of very few capitals not to have a museum devoted to the City itself, since the Civic Museum closed “temporarily”, – a matter of supreme indifference to the citizens and their rulers even in the good years when there was money for every sort of crazy project.
I heard somewhere that the Civic Museum had fire egress issues which will be very expensive and logistically challenging to resolve; I stand to be corrected on this.
In terms of museums it is I think only a matter of time before there are charges to them; we are way out of step with most countries granting free access; the winners being the bus companies who soak up that section of the tourists budget which otherwise would go on museum admission; lets be honest some of the collections held are well worth paying to see. The argument for keeping museums free is largely based on the very important role that museums play in childrens education; if all under 18s and all student card holders were granted free admission then tourists visiting here would simply revert to the european norm; this way the museums could earn income towards their ongoing maintenance and to acquire important historcal material which does the auction house rounds every 20 to 30 years as collectors pass on.
@dc3 wrote:
Nice to have it back. Sorry to hear about the wall.
Good time to also recall that Dublin must be one of very few capitals not to have a museum devoted to the City itself, since the Civic Museum closed “temporarily”, – a matter of supreme indifference to the citizens and their rulers even in the good years when there was money for every sort of crazy project.
Well, the contents of the Civic Museum have all been transferred to the city archive in Pearse Street Library, no? So the building it was housed in was closed, but the collection is available upstairs in Pearse Street, if I understand. I could be wrong, I never went to the old museum, so not sure if there are omissions.
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned City Hall, “The Story of the Capital” exhibition/collection when discussing the idea of a museum of the city. It’s small, but I think it does the job quite well.
Graham, that makes more sense, alright, I can see it would be a fire hazard as it stands, tripping over toddlers crawling backwards down the stairs. I still think the access to the upper levels is very important to the experience of the museum, and something should be worked out. I think the current solution indicates the priorities of the museum curators – they’re interested in the collection, whereas I see the collection as one aspect of the museum, and I actually think the importance of this particular museum lies in its architecture and history.
@PVC King wrote:
In terms of museums it is I think only a matter of time before there are charges to them; we are way out of step with most countries granting free access; the winners being the bus companies who soak up that section of the tourists budget which otherwise would go on museum admission; lets be honest some of the collections held are well worth paying to see. The argument for keeping museums free is largely based on the very important role that museums play in childrens education; if all under 18s and all student card holders were granted free admission then tourists visiting here would simply revert to the european norm; this way the museums could earn income towards their ongoing maintenance and to acquire important historcal material which does the auction house rounds every 20 to 30 years as collectors pass on.
It will be a sad day indeed when we are charged an admission fee to view the collections in our national museums.
I don’t understand the logic behind the tour buses gaining an advantage. How will charging an entrance fee into the museums entice a budgeting tourist off his tour bus ?
Furthermore, there appears to be an underlying assumption here that only tourists visit the museums. This is far from the case and introducing a charge to get in will dissuade many regular visitors from attending as often, and discourage many who have never been from ever doing so.I’d have to disagree. Indeed far from a charge dissuading tourists from entering the museums, I’d imagine most get off the bus or walk in off the street with wallet in hand, only to be pleasantly surprised at being able to walk carefree into the building, sliding the cash back into the back pocket. There is significant potential for revenue generation through entrance charges, not only to supplement or partly replace existing central funding, but also to enable the museums to develop, conserve and better present their collections. Ireland’s museums have always been cash-starved – it is not a problem exclusive to the current economic backdrop.
Likewise, as suggested by PVC King, universal and free access to all those under 18 years of age is sufficient to cover the museums’ critical educational role, while for regular users the museums can simply be added to the existing OPW Heritage Card system, which costs a minuscule €21 a year for free access to all OPW sites across the State. The Sunday family trip with hoards of kids likewise remains largely unaffected. Numerous open days throughout the year can also promote access to those who may otherwise be dissuaded by a charge.
€5 or €6 is an entirely reasonable adult entrance fee to Kildare Street or Collins Barracks. I agree there is a noble air of civic mindedness in being able to walk in unhindered from a busy commercial street to view incredible objects from the past, but equally we have to be realistic about the realities of maintaining such collections, never mind expanding or developing them and the historic properties in which they are housed.
many Museums / attractions on the continent have free entry for citizens on the production of a valid piece of ID, the Boboli Gardens in Florence comes to mind.
Why not charge Tourists a small nominal fee and let the citizens who maintin the museum via taxes continue to have free entry?
In Bolivia a number of years ago in their Art Museum they had a twin price approach; little for locals say 20c and $7us for tourists; given that the majority of tourists will pay close to €7 a pint in the Temple of Bars they’d feel even more ripped off. But I do see Temple of Bars aside the merit in what you say. you could picture the chaos of all those weekenders from Bolton claiming to have an Irish grandmother and spending ages trying to explainwhy they personally didn’t have to pay.
I agree with Graham’s pricing matrix these are very high quality and sizeable collections; no doubt when the National Museum sends specific collections abroad the vast bulk of those viewing them would be paying to view them anyway. Worst case scenario it is a good press release for NTMA to display that the assets are being sweated at every possible opportunity; cutbacks would be a much worse result as some of the highly qualified experts would emmigrate and may not return.
Had my first lunchtime fix today and I’m still smiling at nine o’ clock Place was jammed with excited kids and parents (many completely ignoring the ban on photography). 😀
Lots of stuff nicely cleaned-up, but not excessively so (pleased to see that the stuffing is still coming out of the suspended basking shark on the ground floor – and that he still dances when people on the first floor walk over him (her?)).
Didn’t have sufficient privacy to establish whether the baboons can still be made to dance.
The (‘temporary’) loss of access to the upper levels is sad, so some ringfenced funding must be found to restore it. But I absolutely agree with previous comments on admission charges – all under eighteens must be free and I would extend that to pensioners and unemployed if feasible.
I note from the museum website that donations are tax allowable but that they do not appear to have a ‘friends’ scheme. Strange omission?
The choice is simple either go back to the bad old days of museums getting funding when it is available or allow the culture industry to act like a business. In terms of extending the provision from the under 18’s / third level students there could be an angle in developing a ‘social solidarity card’ to grant rights of admission plus say off peak travel on public transport etc to pensioners, unemployed etc. The last decade has seen dramatic capacity enhancements across a number of areas in the public services; not all of this capacity is currenty being utilised. This being a uniquely Irish piece of social thinking would unless copied (unlikely) result in the objective of tourist revenue being collected to pay for the benefits derived from our cultural assets being acheived.
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