Abound led our project team, including interpreters Ann Tweedie and Sabrina Willekens and interpretative artist Steve Pardue to deliver a multifaceted heritage regeneration project within the historic heart of the market town of Inverkeithing.
The community-led project consists of two main components: public realm improvements in the town centre and renovation of the Town House into a flexible use community space. The scheme includes a number of interpretive initiatives including:
- heritage exhibitions incorporated into public spaces in the Town House
- plaques for significant buildings in the town centre
- a series of interpretive signs in the public realm
- a booklet for self-guided walks around Inverkeithing
- collaboration with businesses to tell heritage stories on their premises.
Ann Tweedie has led the interpretative aspects of the project while Sabrina has supported all community involved activities. This included running interpretive workshops with members of the Inverkeithing Local History Society and other partners, as well as a ‘walk-shop’ designed to gather stories of participants’ lived experiences in the town. They have also held community drop-in sessions at a local church coffee morning and a food bank. Alongside these, they have organised an online survey to collect further input from a wider community, which has been widely publicised by the client team through social media. Sabrina has led on the collaboration with local businesses engagement, developing the interpretation for shops in the town centre. Meanwhile, Abound was required to work with multiple stakeholders, and within a tight budget, to create a family of interpretive outputs, tailored to the various indoor and outdoor locations. As the Town House has no dedicated exhibition areas, careful planning has been required to integrate interpretation into the historic building, while allowing other community activities to take place within the same spaces. Currently, public realm works are underway and the Town House is expected to open to the public in spring 2025.
