New base for Carmarthenshire Archive Service

Carmarthenshire County Council will invest £2million to deliver a new purpose-built base for the Carmarthenshire Archive Service.

The council’s Executive Board today agreed to finance a new building at a preferred location, as an extension to the rear of Carmarthen Library.

Executive Board members heard how bringing the archive service into the town centre would bring additional footfall to the King Street area of town, whilst adding to its ‘cultural quarter’ ethos.

Several other sites had been considered, including Abergwili Museum and the Guildhall in Carmarthen, and Parc Howard in Llanelli.

It is seen as a positive step forward for the archive service, which has been affected by an outbreak of mould at its present base in Parc Myrddin.

The Collection is currently undergoing cleaning and is being returned to temporary storage at Glamorgan Archive and The Richard Burton Archive, Swansea.

Providing a new purpose-built repository in Carmarthen will allow the return of the archives, and also improved access with shared resources at the library.

Funding has been allocated from the council’s Capital Programme to finance a new building, and following Executive Board endorsement, council officers will now progress with detailed plans and costings for the site.

Cllr Meryl Gravell, Executive Board Member for Regeneration, said: “I’d like to thank the Friends of the Archives and the staff who have made this proposal possible. It’s great that a location has been found within Carmarthen Town Centre, which will provide a perfect link with other cultural services such as the library and art gallery, as well as being close to the car park and transport links.

“This is an exciting time for us as we are also in the process of digitising the archives to make them accessible not only to people locally, but worldwide.”