Stowmarket Food Museum awarded £1.4m for redevelopment
The money will go towards improving the medieval barn on the site, which dates back to between the 13th and 15th Century and is one of the oldest buildings in Stowmarket."The building isn't in the condition that we want it to be in," Ms Cousins said."This is how we inherited it and it's time for us to try and bring it to life and really make it sing."The money will also go towards improvements to Abbot's Hall and the Robert Boby building.
Ms Cousins added the museum would build two new permanent galleries, which will hold exhibitions and programmes."It's a five-year project," she continued. "The building works are going to be the first two years of the project."We're aiming for 2027, which is the museum's 60th anniversary, so we really wanted to try and get everything open for then, but there's a lot of activity that will continue after that point."
Tim Weller, a Green Party councillor and the cabinet member for environment, culture and wellbeing, said the council was confident with the museum's vision leading to the funding agreement. "Increasing footfall here is what helps the museum achieve its real ambitions, ensuring many more people get to see what's here and the investment is also going to make improvements to the buildings that will enable the collections to be better accessible to people," he added.
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