Chelmsford Museum has received initial support from the National Lottery via the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its £2m ‘Chelmsford City Centred’ project.

The project aims to renovate older displays at the museum, which is run by Chelmsford City Council, in Oaklands Park and provide a café for museum and park users.

Development funding of £76,500 has been awarded as part of the initial support to help the museum progress its plans and apply for a full grant later in 2016.

Chelmsford City Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure, Councillor Julia Jeapes, explained: “This is great news.

"Six years ago the Council invested nearly £5m in the new museum extension, but we always knew that the older galleries such as archaeology, natural history and the decorative arts would need redisplaying.

"The Victorian building, which is Grade II listed, also needs money spent on its infrastructure, on things such as heating and lighting.

"The Council is happy to contribute, subject to financial considerations, but we would not be able to proceed without the important support of the Heritage Lottery Fund.”

The City Council’s Museums Manager, Nick Wickenden, said: “Many of our visitors and people using Oaklands Park have asked us ever since we opened the extension where the café is!

"With National Lottery support, we hope that we can provide a superb new café facility.

"This will benefit museum visitors and the whole of our local community, at no extra ongoing cost to the Council, ensuring the museum will become an even greater asset for the City.

"This grant will allow us to employ people such as a museum designer to build our case.”

He added: “We also hope to restore a ‘toastrack’ railway carriage which used to run along Southend Pier, for display in a special outdoors glazed building at the museum.

"The Pier railway scheme was devised by Colonel Crompton who was Chelmsford’s foremost electrical engineer at the turn of the 19th and 20th century.”

Robyn Llewellyn, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund East of England, said: “Chelmsford Museum is a great place to find out about the varied heritage of the local area and our support, made possible thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, will enable plans to transform the oldest parts of the site to be developed further.

"The council has already completed some fantastic work that, combined with this project, will realise impressive benefits for the collections and the visitors and volunteers of this much-loved museum.”