We had a really interesting afternoon on the 17 March, on the NWFED visit to the Chadwick Resource Centre. Pierrette Squires and Don Stenhouse from Bolton Museums welcomed everyone to the centre and shared their experiences and expertise. The event was a great opportunity to find out about the integrated pest management system in place for the store, the sustainable use of energy ( voltage optimisation, solar panels, LED lighting systems ) as well as the practicalities of planning a new store and moving 40,000 objects with a small core team.
Pierrette and Don felt that Pierrette’s early involvement in the architectural planning ensured that pest management solutions were implemented throughout the building while also allowing the teams to make the best use of resources and to minimise cost. Pierrette is happy to share contacts of suppliers and it was interesting to hear how extra care was given to using local suppliers ( great racking system by a Manchester based company http://www.zenofficebie.com/our-work/case-studies/bolton-library-and-museum/ and spirit store by Bolton lab equipment company http://www.sanberlabservices.co.uk/sanber/ ! ). Other useful tips included: building in for full time technician’s role when organising a store move, budgeting for the conservation of vulnerable collections items and viewing any move as an opportunity to rationalise collections.
Don talked about the prevention of pests as well treatment solutions and Lizzie Miller ( ICON intern ) shared her pest management monitoring plan for the building. Delegates asked about the frequency of pest checks and the staff resources required. Overall delegates were all impressed with how neat and well organised the store is and the expertise of Pierrette, Don and Lizzie.
A big thank you to Pierrette, Lizzie and Don for making this a successful event and we hope to work again with them on future events and practical sessions. The Chadwick Resource Centre will be open to school visits in autumn and is open to adult group visits now.