Ambitious plans for Hereford museum

There are ambitious plans to transform Hereford’s museum into a £10m world-class modern visitor attraction at the heart of the city centre.

Herefordshire Council leaders are supporting a bid to fund a regeneration scheme they hope will grow the cultural sector in the city and provide a big boost for tourism.

They want to transform the existing Museum, Library and Art Gallery on Broad Street to deliver modern museum experience while maintaining the building’s Victorian Gothic façade.

Cabinet members have given their backing to the bid for £5m from the Government’s Stronger Towns Fund and will also apply for funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“The project will showcase the county’s extensive heritage collections and will have the potential to host new exhibitions of national significance such as the Herefordshire Hoard and the Magna Carta,” the Hereford Town Investment Plan reads.

“The project will deliver a world-class museum, applying EnerPHit design standards where possible to minimise its carbon footprint. It will inspire, delight and innovate while attracting visitors and exhibitors from national and international audiences.”

Consultants working on the scheme say the redevelopment will embrace the latest technologies such as virtual reality to enable the delivery of a new, high quality visitor experience.

“The project will facilitate cultural activity in the creative and educational sectors, attracting additional funding for heritage, culture and the arts, thereby benefiting the city and the county.

“The project will encourage and deliver community involvement and engagement and the facility will require the creation of new jobs and skills investment through apprenticeships, NVQs in the proposed accompanying cafe as well as an increase in volunteering opportunities.

“The heritage offer of Hereford is a sleeping giant in terms of this strategy.

“This is why the development of a new landmark museum and its ripple out connections with the Cathedral and its treasures and the river Wye and more widely through the built form of the city to over 300 other listed buildings is a core part of our regeneration vision.”

If funding bids are successful in the coming months consultants working on the scheme hope to do the refurbishment and open the new museum to the public by 2024.