Nominee Summary
Crawick Multiverse is a 55 acre, Cosmology themed Land Art Installation, created by Charles Jencks from a disused open cast coalmine, it was funded by the Duke of Buccleuch with a goal to provide an economic boost to the surrounding area. Crawick Multiverse currently employees 5 local staff, 1 operations Manager and 4 visitor services assistants, during the last 5 years the team have grown visitor numbers from around 6000 per season to peaking at approx. 14000, The organisation has also successfully held a yearly Summer Solstice event and 2 day music festival attracting visitors from all over the world.
What makes your nominee stand out?
Crawick Multiverse is the largest of Charles Jencks creations and whilst the Land Art has remained the same, the visitor experience and facilities have undergone a significant transformation in the last 5 years, Building a new visitor facilities including toilets, a sheltered area, ticket office and staff facilities, enhancing and expanding the car parking, this was all done using local to the region business wherever possible and sustainably, earning a regional finalist award from the civic trust in 2022. The site promotes visitors to experience all the surrounding area has to offer as well as enjoying the site. The Multiverse has also recently gained the UNESCO Galloway and southern Ayrshire Biosphere Certification Mark through the hard work of one of the team members. The Multiverse is also a national Living wage registered employer. The organisation is overseen by a small board of trustees who volunteer their time and experience to support and grow the Multiverse, supporting the team to explore all possible ways to attract visitors to the site.
Changes that have been implemented
The creation of our visitor facilities has been the biggest change this enhances the welcome visitors receive to the site. Car Parking Improvements have meant we can handle a significantly higher number of visitors To save on maintenance costs we are currently introducing robotic mowers as the site is mostly grass this is a huge expense to be managed, the robotic mowers will also help reduce the carbon footprint of the site.
Overcoming challenges
Crawick Multiverse has needed to expand its offering to encourage a wider range of visitors to come and visit the site, in order to achieve this they have had to show that the site is not just a beautiful Art land but that it has many diverse uses, from encouraging local residents to come for their daily dog walks by offering a discounted annual pass, to hosting various diverse events to encourage as many people who wouldn't normally visit the site to come a experience it in a variety of differing ways. in achieving a higher number of day visitors it was realised that additional parking would be required to meet the growing demand so external funding needed to be found in order to complete the work which was achieved, this in turn has allowed further events such as the 2 day music festival to be able to expand and grow, which attracts more and more people to the site and in turn supports the local economy via suppling goods and services for the event and for the additional visitors to the area.
