London Fire Brigade Museum wins reprieve
Museum's closure is put on hold while private funding is explored
The London Fire Brigade Museum has been given a temporary reprieve from closure following a last-minute offer of private funding.
The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority previously proposed shutting the museum on 1 April. But at a budget meeting last month Brian Coleman, the fire authority’s chairman, withdrew this proposal and said the museum would remain open until at least June, so that opportunities for private funding could be fully explored.
A spokeswoman for the authority said: “Following a last-minute offer of private funding, members have agreed that the museum will not close from 1 April, as originally recommended. A report will be taken to the next London Fire Emergency Planning Authority meeting in June.”
The report will also look at the cost of closure. The museum’s net running costs are £81,000 a year, but the estimated cost of closure is about £276,000.
Tony Sweeney, chairman of the Friends of the Museum, said: “We shall use this time to campaign more and look for a long-term solution.”
Meanwhile, Middlesex University’s Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture (MoDA) closed its public gallery spaces last year and is due to “relaunch” as an online resource later this month or in early May.
Exhibitions will continue to tour the UK and visitors will also be able to request to view the collections in the study room at MoDA’s collections centre in north London.
The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority previously proposed shutting the museum on 1 April. But at a budget meeting last month Brian Coleman, the fire authority’s chairman, withdrew this proposal and said the museum would remain open until at least June, so that opportunities for private funding could be fully explored.
A spokeswoman for the authority said: “Following a last-minute offer of private funding, members have agreed that the museum will not close from 1 April, as originally recommended. A report will be taken to the next London Fire Emergency Planning Authority meeting in June.”
The report will also look at the cost of closure. The museum’s net running costs are £81,000 a year, but the estimated cost of closure is about £276,000.
Tony Sweeney, chairman of the Friends of the Museum, said: “We shall use this time to campaign more and look for a long-term solution.”
Meanwhile, Middlesex University’s Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture (MoDA) closed its public gallery spaces last year and is due to “relaunch” as an online resource later this month or in early May.
Exhibitions will continue to tour the UK and visitors will also be able to request to view the collections in the study room at MoDA’s collections centre in north London.