'All systems go' for barge's revamp
Published on 10th May 2007 in News
Here’s to a £70,000 revamp: Clare Hunt on the Sobriety barge, which is based at the Waterways Museum on Dutch Riverside.
A date has been set for the £70,000 revamp of a local charity's residential boat.
The Sobriety Project has been awarded the money to give the Sobriety barge its first major makeover since it was donated in the 1970s.
Clare Hunt, operations manager at the Yorkshire Waterways Museum, said: "The boat's been booked in to Louis and Joshua Boatbuilders in Thorne for October and it'll take the best part of six months to do."
The boat, which will be available for trips throughout this summer, will be stripped to the metal on the inside and refitted to make it more practical for groups to use.
A new kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms will be created, and more up-to-date heating and generators installed.
Clare said: "The revamp will bring it into line with modern-day procedures and policies.
"It'll be more practical, more flexible and they'll be more space for groups to work."
The work means the boat will also be suitable for corporate use and social enterprise activities.
"The Sobriety was donated for the project's use in the 1970s by our kind benefactor, John McGory," said Clare.
"There's been minor work done but this is the first time it will undergo major refurbishment."
The majority of the money will be spent on the barge but some will also be used to improve the floating art gallery, Room 58, which will be fitted with a new canvas roof and other new equipment.