Big change planned for Nuneaton's Museum and Art Gallery that will impact all visitors

[dutchman]

A final decision is set to be made at the Town Hall next week



A big change has been planned for Nuneaton's Museum and Art Gallery that will impact all visitors. It has not gone unnoticed that changes have been made to the opening hours of the Riversley Park-based venue over the past year.

There has, the Town Hall has admitted, been some 'dissatisfaction' aired on social media with suggestions made that the venue is 'never open'. The borough council has said that the current operational hours are 'significantly reduced' to those that the museum has historically been operating.

In a council cabinet report says that the reduction and reduced staffing numbers has impacted on the service that is able to be provided to residents and visitors to the borough.

Currently, the winter opening hours, from October 28 until February 16, are Saturdays between 10.30am and 4pm, and one Friday in four weeks between 11am and 3.45pm. The summer opening hours, from February 17 to October 27, are Thursday from 10.30am until 3.30pm and Friday/Saturday from 10.30am until 4pm.

It is closed on Bank Holidays. But the new opening hours are being proposed to make access easier.

Under the new plans, the venue would be open Thursday to Saturdays from 10.30am until 4.30pm, all year round. It would be closed on Bank Holidays.

The change would come into force from April 1 next year. This consistency in hours will make it easier for school visits as well as the free children’s activities offered in the holidays.

"Opening the museum on these set days, will provide consistency for residents and visitors, as well as for employees," the cabinet report explains. "The current mix of hours and days lead to visitors turning up on days when the museum is closed or before or after the museum has closed for the day.

"This dissatisfaction has been voiced on social media outlets with a perception that the museum is rarely open. This consistency will enable the museum to better market itself across the year building routines amongst local people who want to access the various aspects of the museum’s provision from its high-quality temporary exhibition to its activities and events.

"The current winter arrangements will make it largely impossible for schools to visit across the winter months and it will also impact the access to pre-school and disabled groups who visit across the year.

" It will enable consistency to the family learning offer from the museum in particular the free children’s activities delivered during school holidays as well as the museum’s storytelling sessions, enabling them to be delivered across the year."

Cabinet members are set to meet to discuss the plans to change the opening hours at the Town Hall on Wednesday, October 9.