New re-opening plans for Thackray Medical Museum after £4m renovation was halted due to coronavirus

Thackray Medical Museum had already been closed for almost a year prior to the coronavirus lockdown in March because it had been undergoing an extensive renovation programme, when it was ordered to prolong the closure after having planned to re-open in July this summer.

Now, thanks to the Government’s £1.57bn Cultural Recovery Fund, which is investing £257m as part of the very first round awarding monies to 1,385 cultural and creative organisations across the country, Thackray Museum of Medicine can move forward with plans to reopen safely.

The funding will allow the museum to comply with health and safety measures relating to coronavirus, while investing in its operations and increasing its financial resilience.

It was working on a £4m renovation, the biggest since its opening in 1997, and saw plans drawn up for 11 new galleries, a new café and shop and a way to tell the story of medicine in new and dynamic ways.

The first round of the 1, 385 beneficiaries, of which the Thackray is one, was announced on Monday and more are set to follow in the next few weeks.

Nat Edwards, chief executive at Thackray Museum of Medicine said: “This couldn’t have come at a better time. The Government’s Culture Recovery Fund has helped give our museum a more secure future, meaning we can inspire the next generation of big thinkers and informed citizens who will tackle the health crises to come - armed with the long view that only museums like ours can provide. Our mission is so important and we’re enormously grateful that the Government is supporting us.”

Formerly the Leeds Union Workhouse, Thackray Museum of Medicine is now one of the UK’s largest medical museums and the only one of its kind in the north of England, welcoming over one million visitors.

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