A MAJOR project to improve Poole’s museum offering and create a new ‘cultural quarter’ in the town is set to get off the ground.

Councillors will be asked to get behind Our Museum Project at a meeting on Tuesday. The scheme would see between £8-10million invested in updating the Poole Museum estate, which includes Scaplen’s Court and the Town Cellars.

Metaphor architects, who have developed the masterplans for the Victoria and Albert and Ashmolean museums, were commissioned to prepare a strategy outlining opportunities for the museum to “up its game”.

Ideas include re-orientating the museum towards Scaplen’s Court to create a new public square in Sarum Street, and improving access to the Grade I listed building, which has limited capacity.

The Town Cellars would be transformed to its former medieval glory as the King’s Hall, with the Poole Logboat displayed under a glass floor.

Moving the logboat from its current location in Oakley’s Mill would see the space freed up for exhibitions. Currently, the museum is unable to display some of its collections, such as fine art and maritime archaeology, due to a lack of space. The Swash Channel Wreck bow castle is dispersed in storage and the museum’s store at Hatch Pond is full.

Architects are suggesting enclosing the three-storey Atrium and creating a new floor with the existing roof terrace. This space would become a temporary exhibition gallery, while a large restaurant area would be created on the ground floor.

A report by Poole council’s head of culture and community, Kevin McErlane, is being presented to members of the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday.

He said the project would help Poole Museum accommodate a “regional-scale” audience and increase visitor numbers to potentially 300,000 a year.

“Public areas are too small to support the museum’s current scale of audience.

“A major programme is being developed including projects with the Royal Collection and the British Museum. However, the existing galleries are inadequate in terms of facilities, security, environment and scale for the most important exhibitions.”

As an example, the Lines of Thought exhibition in 2016/17, which attracted over 50,000 visitors to the museum, created “uncomfortable” conditions for people, he said.

A fundraising plan for the project will be developed, with the aim being to submit a Stage 1 Heritage Lottery Fund bid in summer 2018. Funding would also be sought from other bodies such as Arts Council England.

Mr McErlane said: “Poole Museum Service is the guardian of Poole’s remarkable heritage for current and future generations. An enhanced museum offer would support many of the council’s strategic priorities and provide a beacon for Poole’s identity as a great place to live, work and visit.”