Museum revamp to get under way (From This is Hampshire)

Museum revamp to get under way

12:22pm Sunday 7th September 2008 in

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A MAJOR £560,000 project to revamp The Willis Museum in Basingstoke town centre will get under way later this month.

The museum, in Market Place, will be closed from September 29 until the beginning of December while an extensive refurbishment takes place to make the museum suitable for high-profile exhibits from top museums and private collections.

Councillor Margaret Snaith, the county council's executive member for recreation and heritage, said: "This vital refurbishment work will not only include important roof repairs to the museum, but it will also help attract a wide variety of rich culture and heritage to Basingstoke.

"Once completed, the museum improvements will mean the town can house a wider array of important displays, some of which will be from some of the most important galleries, museums and private collections around the country."

The work will include transforming the ground floor of the museum to create "The Sainsbury Gallery" - a large, flexible and secure gallery. The space will be named after Lord Sainsbury, of Preston Candover, as his charitable trust, The Linbury Trust, has donated £45,000 to the project.

The new space will house an "Ancient China" exhibition in conjunction with the British Museum in 2009. An exhibition of samurai weapons, supplied by the Royal Armouries, has been agreed for 2010.

The first-floor refurbishment will include the creation of a smaller gallery for community exhibitions, called "The Basingstoke Gallery". Other improvements will include new toilet facilities and extensive repairs to the museum roof.

In total, the project will cost £563,000, and it is being funded by Hampshire County Council's capital repairs and access budgets and grants from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Wolfson Foundation - a charitable trust which supports excellence in the field of arts - as well as cash from The Linbury Trust.