A MAJOR application for funding is being prepared by the Museum of Dartmoor Life to improve facilities and display areas.
The museum will be asking for support from the community for the project when it holds an open evening on February 17.
There will be a chance to view the plans and the consultant and architect will be present to discuss and answer questions.
It is intended to put a bid forward for Heritage Lottery Funds and the plans will include the provision of access for people with special needs, new displays, improvement to the storage of objects and records and security.
The museum also wants to create a new activities room and self-contained exhibition gallery.
Curator Maurie Webber said the new display areas would be designed to be both informative to the casual visitor and to complement the National Curriculum while maintaining the present atmosphere of the museum.
'It will be a major educational aid of the district,' she said. 'The museum is being increasingly used for research and included within the application is the provision of an activities room for use by local community groups, school parties and researchers.'
Mrs Webber said the character and ethos of the museum would not change because that was what people liked, but the last work had been done in the early 1990s and it was time for the next phase in the development of the museum.
'It is very important we get this funding so we can enter the next stage — it is a very exciting time,' she said.
The museum was established in 1981 and through the support of the local community it has played an important role in interpreting the story of Dartmoor and Okehampton and its surrounding area.
It also safeguards an ever increasing collection of artefacts and records of local life.
Mrs Webber said financial support would be sought locally if there was any shortfall in funding from the lottery and other funding partners.
The open evening will run from 7pm to 9pm.