Volunteers are poised to make a bid to run the former Dewsbury Museum building when it passes from Kirklees Council control next year.

And the Friends of Dewsbury Park Mansion are bullish about the project, pledging to work with funders, the council and Locality, a network of community-led organisations, to make it both a reality and a success.

Spokesman Jax Lovelock said: “ The Friends of Dewsbury Park Mansion have set ourselves up so that we can take on the building.

“At the moment we are in the middle of discussions with the council. We have kicked off the process of putting in an expression of interest.”

The council is looking for organisations to take over the buildings that housed Dewsbury Museum and Red House Museum in Gomersal, which shuts its doors for the last time on Wednesday (Dec 21).

Sadly it looks as though the Friends of Red House, which was set up four years ago and has around 80 members, is to be wound up. Chairman Jacqueline Ryder says it was formed to promote Red House and improve visitor numbers. It will not be expressing an interest in taking on the building.

The Park Mansion House which houses Dewsbury Museum in Crow Nest Park

But it is a different matter with Dewsbury Park Mansion, the building that houses Dewsbury Museum, which opened in 1896.

“We are a bunch of volunteers,” said Ms Lovelock. “We want to keep this building for community use and we believe that we can do it.

“We will have to jump through a lot of hoops and do it really quickly, but we hope that we can put together the best solution. That building is screaming ‘community use.’

“We are passionate. We have people that are very willing to give advice and support. We are in a strong position. We just have to keep plugging away.”

The Friends hope to put in a funding bid early in the New Year to fit in with the council’s timeline, as it is currently gathering expressions of interest to take over the running of the buildings.

Both Dewsbury Museum, in Crow Nest Park, and Red House in Gomersal were earmarked for closure by the council in October following budget cuts caused by Government austerity measures. Tolson Museum in Huddersfield is also under threat.

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Some objects on loan to both Dewsbury Museum and the 17th century Red House have already been returned to their owners and other collections are being moved into secure storage.

July 2016: Kirklees Council begins three-week consultation period over “reluctant” plans to close museums.

October 3: The axe falls on Dewsbury Museum, Red House Museum and Tolson Museum . Re-organisation of the Museums Service will save the council £513,000.

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November 6: Closure of Dewsbury Museum in Crow Nest Park.

December 16: Kirklees Council encourages applications from community organisations to take over the museum buildings.

December 21: Closure of Red House Museum, in Gomersal.

March 6 2017: Deadline for initial expressions of interest and/or outline business cases for taking over either site. An asset transfer of either building is expected to include covenants for community use, with the option of up to 30% of the building being available for commercial use.

April 3: Kirklees Council to make decisions on any expressions of interest. If nobody from the community is willing to take over the running of the buildings, the council will look at placing them for sale on the open market.

Any organisation with a business case for taking over the buildings for the benefit of the local community is encouraged to fill out the relevant forms on the council’s website. An information pack is available online at http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/assettransfer .

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