Museum 'has national ambitions' after £10m revamp

A museum that is due to reopen in the summer following a two-year £10.3m revamp is aiming for national status, its project manager has said.

Poole Museum in Dorset closed in 2022 for redevelopment and repairs to the medieval building.

It will open with two new buildings, more than double the floor-space and accessible facilities.

Project manager Alison Gudgeon said she hoped visitor numbers would increase from about 175,000 to 200,000 a year.

She told BBC Radio Solent: "We've gone from a town-scale museum to a regional-scale museum with very national ambitions.

"We've now got three buildings, so that's huge. We've over-doubled public space without any new building work."

Work to fit out the museum will start in the next few days, following repairs to the 13th Century foundations and crumbling brickwork, Ms Gudgeon said.

Six free-to-access galleries on five floors will house permanent and touring exhibitions.

For the first time, a neighbouring landmark - Grade I listed Scaplen's Court - will be fully open as part of the museum and will include a cafe.

Grade I listed Wool Hall - otherwise known as the Town Cellars - will also be opened, housing the Shipwreck Gallery including the museum's Iron Age log boat.

Ms Gudgeon said: "One of the things we wanted to do was when people enter the museum, for them to say: 'This is surprising. This is not what I expected.'

"It's taken quite a lot longer than we hoped. We are aiming for a summer opening."

The revamp has been supported by BCP Council which owns the site, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Arts Council and charitable trusts and foundations.

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