Bournemouth Aviation Museum may be evicted to make way for airport parking
03.12.07
Bournemouth Aviation Museum is threatened with closure after losing its hangar and open air space at Bournemouth Airport. A spokesman for the popular attraction has revealed that airport bosses want to expand the terminal car park into the site occupied by the museum and adjoining buildings housing other aviation businesses. They have given tenants notice to quit when the lease expires at the end of December.
The offer of a reduced space in part of a hangar on the other side of the airport has been rejected as unviable by museum managers, and in a letter to landlords Manchester Airport Group museum co-manager Chris Christie said the museum would have to close. He said the airport offer of half a hangar currently used by a waste recycling firm would leave the museum with a lot less space both inside and out, while the rental was being increased by almost a half.
In addition to the increased cost, with less space, the museum would have to abort its planned acquisition of new aircraft, dispose of many of its larger - and most lucrative - exhibits, and lose its popular picnic area with views of the runways which Mr Christie predicted would lead to a downturn in visitor numbers.
The museum, run as a charitable trust, would also have to pay the high price of moving the remaining aircraft, cockpits, engines and fuselages, many mounted on concrete plinths, across the airport.
A spokesperson for Bournemouth Airport said: 'Bournemouth Aviation Museum's three year lease on its current site expires at the end of December, and they have always been aware that they could be asked to move from this location as the redevelopment commences.'
'The area the Museum currently occupies is in a prime location which we intend to use for vital passenger car parking that is within walking distance of the terminal. We have offered the Trustees suitable accommodation on the north east of the airport. In addition we have offered to make the building suitable for occupancy, to improve the apron area attached to the premises, and to agree a three month rent-free period to allow for the relocation of exhibits.'
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