Smaller museums continue to face fallout from the Spending Review as budget cuts filter down to them from local authorities.
Birmingham’s Aston Manor Road Transport Museum closed last month and begun a clearance of its collection after a £350,000 offer to buy the Victorian tram shed that houses it was rejected.
Birmingham City Council rents the location to the museum for £43,000 a year and reportedly put a £900,000 price on the building.
The council said it had, in effect, subsidised the museum by £650,000 over the past 15 years, and trustees had not presented a viable business case. It added that a list of alternative venues had been provided.
Sheffield’s Traditional Heritage Museum, which has been shut since February, is to close permanently after 26 years. The University of Sheffield, which owns the building, said it was too costly to maintain.
It added that it was “considering options for the future of the collections”, which include several original shop frontages and interiors.
Wycombe Museum is to move its collection out of the listed Castle Hill House to save £385,000 in annual running costs. The museum will be managed by a charitable trust and moved to the offices of Wycombe District Council.
Selling the building, which has housed the collection since 1962, is expected to net £750,000. The council said the new facility would provide more space to display its furniture collection, which is mainly in storage.
Wellingborough Museum has averted a potential £16,000 cut in its £26,000 grant after talks with its local authority.
The museum trust’s chairman, Robert Wharton, said a £19,950 award had been agreed with Wellingborough Borough Council.
“It’s still a 25% cut,” he said. “We will have to draw on reserves because you can’t run a museum on that money. We are fortunate in that we have a shop and rooms that we let out that cover half our costs, but we can’t have much more than a year of reduced funding.”
The Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Middlesbrough will close until March to cut running costs. A council spokesman said there was “no suggestion” it would not reopen.
Barrow-in-Furness’s Dock Museum hopes to avert winter closure despite a £5m shortfall in the borough council’s budget. It plans to reduce opening hours in the summer, rather than to close from November to March.
Birmingham’s Aston Manor Road Transport Museum closed last month and begun a clearance of its collection after a £350,000 offer to buy the Victorian tram shed that houses it was rejected.
Birmingham City Council rents the location to the museum for £43,000 a year and reportedly put a £900,000 price on the building.
The council said it had, in effect, subsidised the museum by £650,000 over the past 15 years, and trustees had not presented a viable business case. It added that a list of alternative venues had been provided.
Sheffield’s Traditional Heritage Museum, which has been shut since February, is to close permanently after 26 years. The University of Sheffield, which owns the building, said it was too costly to maintain.
It added that it was “considering options for the future of the collections”, which include several original shop frontages and interiors.
Wycombe Museum is to move its collection out of the listed Castle Hill House to save £385,000 in annual running costs. The museum will be managed by a charitable trust and moved to the offices of Wycombe District Council.
Selling the building, which has housed the collection since 1962, is expected to net £750,000. The council said the new facility would provide more space to display its furniture collection, which is mainly in storage.
Wellingborough Museum has averted a potential £16,000 cut in its £26,000 grant after talks with its local authority.
The museum trust’s chairman, Robert Wharton, said a £19,950 award had been agreed with Wellingborough Borough Council.
“It’s still a 25% cut,” he said. “We will have to draw on reserves because you can’t run a museum on that money. We are fortunate in that we have a shop and rooms that we let out that cover half our costs, but we can’t have much more than a year of reduced funding.”
The Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Middlesbrough will close until March to cut running costs. A council spokesman said there was “no suggestion” it would not reopen.
Barrow-in-Furness’s Dock Museum hopes to avert winter closure despite a £5m shortfall in the borough council’s budget. It plans to reduce opening hours in the summer, rather than to close from November to March.
