A project to transform the Casemate Barracks building into an exhibition space is progressing slowly due to the recession, according to the executive director of the National Museum of Bermuda.Edward Harris said: “We are not moving ahead quickly but there’s plenty of time to do it. It’s a large project and we have been approaching it with volunteers on the weekends and holidays and also with visiting groups from companies.“It’s a big project and money eventually has to be raised for it but we are not, as yet, particularly in this [economic] climate, doing any particular fundraising for the project.”Dr Harris said the Casemate Barracks building at Dockyard was ideally suited to becoming an exhibition space.It was originally a base for soldiers and, most recently, a prison, but will eventually be used for temporary exhibitions, including to display items from other institutions.He said the conversion work began four years ago and there was no deadline for completion, as it wasn’t a full-time project.“We are not fundraising because we are not ready to fundraise,” he said. “We haven’t done the costing yet for it. We are in the middle of fundraising for other projects. There is a recession and we have other projects in the museum.“Even if we had piles of money, it could be several years.”Dr Harris said Casemate Barracks and its two ancillary buildings were among the most important architectural monuments in Bermuda.Visitors to the National Museum can now view them through a fence but are not yet able to enter the buildings.“They are wonderful buildings and we are very pleased to be able to eventually bring them back into production, as it were, as galleries for the public.”Anyone interested in volunteering to help with the gallery project should e-mail director[AT]bmm.bm or call 704-5480.Useful website: www.bmm.bm