The new Museum of WiganLife is set to open this spring, following the completion of a major £1.9m scheme to transform the former History Shop into a 'heritage hub' for the Lancashire town.

Manchester-based William Anelay has been working to deliver the new museum, which has received a £500,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and match funding from Wigan Council and Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust (WLCT). Themed displays - including Wigan At War, Wigan Sport and Our Wigan, focusing on the people who have lived and worked in the town - will help to tell the story of Wigan from the Roman period to the present day.

A genealogical study area equipped with computer and micro-form readers to help people research their ancestry will also form part of the new Museum of WiganLife, which is housed in the building once used by author George Orwell to research The Road to Wigan Pier. WLCT head of heritage services, Carole Tyldesley, said: "This exhibition will tell the story of Wigan, its people, its heritage and its community pride. It will be a place to experience, discover and identify the events and people that moulded modern Wigan life."

Wigan Council's cabinet member for culture, Brian Baldwin, added: "We have a rich heritage and a strong cultural identity and this new museum will celebrate that."