ALAPPUZHA: The 200-year-old history of coir sector in the country will be showcased at the coir museum scheduled to come up here soon. The work on preserving the centuries-old buildings of coir companies situated in the old port town and the installations is in the final stages now. P M Noushad, managing director, Alappuzha Heritage Project (AHP), said the museum is set to open by October last week.
“The state government allotted `4 crore for setting up the museum and another `14 crore to renovate heritage buildings in Alappuzha port town from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). The museum will showcase the history, developments and future of the coir sector in the country. This will be the first museum to depict the heritage of one of the oldest traditional industries in the country,” Noushad said.
According to him, “The museum will be housed in a 10,000 sq ft building which originally belonged to Darragh Smail Co, one of the oldest coir companies from the region. The exhibits will include equipment used in the coir industry at the time and other items narrating the history of workers among other things”.
Though the British and Dutch companies which operated here had wound up their businesses long back after the country attained Independence, the architectural splendour remains intact even to this day. The name boards of foreign firms -- Darragh Smail and Co, Pierce Lesley and Co, William Goodacare and Co, Bombay Co, Mudura Co, Volkart Brothers, Aspinwall and Co -- that operated here for several decades can still be found here which gives an old-world charm to the once bustling port town.
“In the ‘yarn museum’ section, the entire history of coir yarns and the making of yarns and coir mats and mattings will be displayed. The reason for the decline of the coir industry, history of coir cooperatives and other aspects will be displayed at the museum,” Noushad said. The buildings of the museum are owned by the Coirfed. The AHP had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Coirfed for handing over the old building to convert it into a museum. As per the MoU, the other old buildings were handed over to the AHP for renovating them, officials said.
The project envisages the renovation of old buildings, including coir factories and those built by missionaries, built during the British rule. Plans are also afoot to provide a ringside view of factory operations to visitors in real-time without affecting production. Volkart Brothers, a company established by a British industrialist here around 150 years ago, which later became the ‘New Model Coir Mats and Matting’s Cooperative Society’ will be turned into a live museum.
Society president R Suresh said, “The coir manufacturing machinery will not be replaced, but it will be maintained in the original form to get an antique look. The society was formed in 1970 when, the late T V Thomas was the Industries Minister,” he said.The work on setting up a port museum, boat museum, road beautification and construction of cycle lane included in the project is progressing, officials said.
first museum to depict the heritage
The AHP had signed a memorandum of understanding with Coirfed for handing over the old building to convert it into a museum.
The work on setting up a port museum, boat museum, road beautification and construction of cycle lane included in the project is progressing