Boulton Paul Heritage Project to shut down

A heritage centre honouring decades of aviation history in the Black Country is to close, it was announced today.

The popular Boulton Paul Heritage Project in Wolverhampton has been told it will close in December next year after the owner of the factory site where it is based has pulled its support.

GE Aviation has said it will close the factory in Wobaston Road after current tenants Moog Aviation relocate to the i54 Development.

The decision has left the centre's band of dedicated volunteers devastated and fearing the rare exhibits of planes, models, and documents could be broken up, sold off or even scrapped.

Chairman of the Boulton Paul Heritage Project, Cyril Plimmer, said: "At this point we simply don't know what will happen to the collection."

South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson has said it will be an "absolute tragedy" if the collection is lost adding: "I want to make sure we explore every avenue to keep this whole collection together."

He said efforts could including finding a new permanent site for the collection.

The centre attracts hundreds of people to its open days and exhibits include full-scale replicas of planes made in the city. The centre was launched in 1991 by former workers of Boulton Paul.

The site was sold to GE in 2007.