Post 3: A painless project?
Enthusiasm level: Nervous optimism.
Progress: 3 cautious pigeon steps.
Quote: “It is like an endurance sport.”
Despite my current continued optimism I do know that really there is no such thing as a painless building project. Today concluded with a meeting with a fabulous National Trust team that are working on the project to restore Rainham Hall in Rainham, Essex they are further ahead with their project but were keen to see about how we approached presenting a Georgian house. We had a wide ranging discussion about interpretation, collections, visitors expectation, presentation. As the group were leaving I got chatting to two of the people closely involved. They said it was reassuring to hear about some of the challenges that we face as, at the moment, they just seem to be facing one challenge after another. But the fact that one of them mentioned an opening gala suggested that they are confident everything will fall into place eventually. That certainly isn’t a concept we have even considered at Brook Street yet. However they did say it was like an endurance sport which was a good warning of things to come. If this is an endurance sport I guess it could be compared to a two year long Tour de France; if so the Project Manager is definitely in the yellow jersey at the moment and I suspect she is the best person to be wearing it!
Comments
Thanks for keeping us updated even at this early stage. Please keep it up, especially if you make any little discoveries as you go forward, such as a strand of Jimi’s carpet here or a strip of original wallpaper there. Small things, but priceless to those among us who love Jimi. This is the most exciting thing in years so keep going.
Thanks so much for your comment. Hendrix fans have been so supportive and we really appreciate it. Unfortunately I don’t think we will come across any original wallpaper. The rooms were re-papered with woodchip wallpaper in the late 1990s as that was what was on the wall when Hendrix lived here. We must be the only people the world that want to keep woodchip…