Findhorn Village Heritage invests £12,000 in replacement flooring at Icehouse visitor attraction
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TRUSTEES of a historic building in a local village have invested £12,000 in its structure.
Having successfully applied for £6000 from the Scottish Landfill Community Fund and £3500 from the Berry Burn Community Fund, the Findhorn Village Heritage charity has also contributed £2500 from its reserves to pay for replacement flooring at the Icehouse.
Heritage chairman Tim Negus is grateful for the support.
He explained: “Findhorn Heritage receives no external funding. We don’t charge for entry to the Icehouse and Heritage Centre but donations are welcome as these form our main income and are usually sufficient to cover our recurring overheads such as insurance and utilities. The grant funding will allow us to make repairs to the Icehouse floor in the closed season.”
Findhorn Icehouse was built over 150 years ago to store ice collected in winter from the bay shore, used to pack salmon for London markets. The constant low temperature in the underground chambers allowed the ice to last throughout the fishing season. After commercial salmon netting ended in 1987, the Icehouse lay empty until it was acquired by Findhorn Village Heritage. Following restoration, it was opened to the public in 2004 to tell the story of the local salmon fishing industry.
Mr Negus said: “An important consideration in the design of the museum was the incorporation of level flooring to allow full accessibility to our visitors. Recently, rewiring of the electrical systems required removal of metal floor panels. This revealed corrosion of the floor supports in two of the chambers, probably caused by the damp and salty underground conditions.”
AJ Engineering produced a plan to fabricate a replacement supporting steel grid with enhanced rust protection to allow re-use of the existing floor surface panels.
Mr Negus finished: “We look forward to our 2024 opening, reassured that the floor of this historic building will be safe and secure for many years to come.”
The Icehouse is open from 2-5pm in June, July and August.
See https://www.findhorn-heritage.co.uk/index.htm for more information.
