Dozens view latest plans for Staffordshire History Centre

Artist impressions and a 3D model for the £4m scheme, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery, went on display at Staffordshire Place last week.

A last chance to find out more about the development took place at the same venue today (Thursday) between 10am and 2pm.

The history centre will be located on Eastgate Street in Stafford town centre and will hold historical records and collections up to 1,000 years old.

Along with an exhibition space, modern and bright search rooms it will also have additional strong rooms, providing storage for an additional 25 years of future collections.

Visitors who have gone along to the exhibition have had the chance to speak to architects and designers as well as learn more about a four-year programme of activities to coincide with the complex.

Gill Heath, communities chief at Staffordshire County Council, said: "This is a really exciting time for our service and it was wonderful to see so many people coming along to view the plans.

“The feedback we got was very positive and the architects and project team were kept busy answering questions from the public.

"People liked the idea of bringing the collections together in the new centre and liked our ideas for the kinds of exhibitions that would be on display and going out into local communities.

"The 3D model of the new centre also went down very well with people and helped show how the new centre would link into the William Salt Library.”

Funding of £333,400 for the development phase has already been received from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) with a Round II bid being submitted in March 2018. Work on the new centre could start as early as April 2019.