Here's a link to the story from yesterday's Western Mail:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/deserted-train-station-could-transformed-11897352
A deserted train station could be transformed into this military museum
"Just this week, the Bute Street Railway Station was on the Victorian Society's top 10 most endangered buildings list
Plans to turn an endangered Cardiff building into a military museum have been revealed.
This week, the Victorian Society listed the Bute Road Railway Station in Cardiff Bay as one of the 10 most endangered buildings in the UK. The Grade II listed building was home to the first steam-powered train service in Wales.
The station building was built in 1842-43 and was a massive influence in Cardiff’s industrial story. Now, the Army Medical Services Museum has revealed they plan to move from their current location at Keogh Barracks to move to the Cardiff Bay building.
Since last autumn, the board have been working with Cardiff council to establish the new museum in the building. They are now looking into buying the purchase of the Bute Street Railway Station and adjacent Welsh Government land in Cardiff Bay on which to build a new facility.
Work is ongoing behind the scenes for the trust to purchase the building and land and secure funding for the new development. A statement from the board reads: “The site in Cardiff was chosen after earlier approaches to other cities around the United Kingdom came to nought.
“Cardiff is viewed as an advantageous location due to its effective transport links; the city is no more than a two hour drive from the South West, London and the West Midlands, with good rail and air connections.
“Cardiff council also recognise the significance of bringing a national collection to the city as part of its tourism offer as it seeks to establish itself as a European capital.”
The station has links with military medical history. It was the embarkation point for wounded soldiers in WWI on their way to the military hospitals in South Wales and the western side of England.
The museum would cover the history and development of the four Corps of the Army Medical Service; the Royal Army Medical Corps, the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps and the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.
They would change the name of the redeveloped building to the Museum of Military Medicine. The move is part of a bid to create “an outward facing, more inclusive, cultural enterprise”.
A council spokesman said: “The city council was approached to help identify potential sites for the museum in Cardiff and have been helping with that.” The board say that their new museum would “inspire learning about past developments in military medicine through shared experience, world-class research, artefact collections and archives, and through programming and public displays, for the sustainment of a healthy future for all our citizens.”
The new museum would also have a research and archive link to preserve the precious manuscript and photographic archives, which are used by researchers from across the world.
They say that its current location doesn’t offer the experience visitors now expect and any funding required to improve the offer."
That's all very good news, especially the restoration of the building and the surrounding land, which is as already said, an eyesore.
