Museum Collections Centre

The Museum Collection Centre in Nechells, Birmingham, is a 1.5-hectare building that holds 80 per cent of Birmingham Museums Trust’s stored collections. It is one of the largest museum stores in the UK. The centre keeps thousands of objects under one roof. Among them are steam engines, many from the former Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry. Sculptures, Austin, Rover and MG motor cars, a red phone box and a Sinclair C5 are also stored there. In September 2014 a trainee curator named Lukas Large found a taxidermied passenger pigeon in the collection. The bird had been extinct since the early 20th century. The centre also runs The Museum in a Box service. Schools and community groups can borrow original artefacts through this programme. Open days take place monthly or by arrangement, with extra sessions during spring and summer bank holidays. Visitors see rows of shelves and cabinets holding the stored objects. The steam engines stand alongside smaller items like the phone box and the C5. The passenger pigeon specimen is kept with other taxidermy. The Museum in a Box display cases show artefacts that can travel to classrooms. The building’s large floor area allows staff to organise and preserve the collections efficiently.