£5m lottery bid aims to revitalise much-loved Lancaster museum
A much-loved Lancaster museum could be revamped to give visitors an improved experience, if a £5m heritage lottery bid is successful.
Staff at Lancaster City Museum, which includes the King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum, are working on a National Lottery Heritage Fund bid to upgrade the site, which dates back to the 1780s and was Lancaster’s original town hall.
The museum is seen as out-dated in parts and suffers problems including damp.
Mel Cookson, one of the museum managers, said: “Elsewhere in the north west, the Harris Museum in Preston and Tullie Museum in Carlisle have had millions spent on them. Now, people in the Lancaster district think its time for their share too.
“We’ll be relying heavily on ideas from the community in our bidding plans, including from parish and town councils. We’ll be looking to talk more about the type of museum residents deserve – and the stories they want told there.”
“City councillor Sam Riches said: “The City Museum site is partly the old Lancaster Town Hall and partly a former bank. It really needs some changes but is also hugely important.
"There are over 100,000 exhibits here including the King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum. There is huge fondness for the museum, but the main galleries have not really changed for years.”
Lancaster City Council has already supported some early work and its cabinet recently agreed to contribute £166,000 towards the first formal phase of the bidding work, if the lottery fund will give £700,000.
Then, if the second ‘delivery phase’ is backed, the council would need to contribute £1.5m, which might include some cash from fundraising, with the lottery fund giving £5m.
Building work could start in 2030 with the museum reopening in 2032. Pop-up exhibitions could be held elsewhere during the temporary closure.