Major improvements to one of Kirklees’s top tourist attractions are set to start – but it means part of it will be shut for months.
This month work will begin refurbishing the visitor facilities at Oakwell Hall and Country Park.
The revamp is expected to be completed by next April and the historic house, in Birstall, will remain open to visitors but the visitor centre will be having a revamped toilet block and a newly refitted shop.
The work means the visitor centre will be closed completely from November 16 until the end of next March.
This new-look centre will combine a retail unit with an information point including new interpretation panels that will welcome visitors to the hall and country park.
A lighting upgrade in the barn will improve facilities for the events while highlighting some of the original structural features.
The entrance from the courtyard will include a new access door and glazing to provide more natural light.
Event caterers will also be able to make use of the new work surfaces and food preparation areas being installed in the end barn.
New iron gates designed by artist Antonia Stowe will be installed at the courtyard entrance and these will incorporate visitors’ ideas and reflect Oakwell’s natural history and landscape.
In addition in the Grade II-listed hall visitors will receive a more interactive experience.
Interpretation boards will tell the story of the hall from its beginnings as an Elizabethan manor house in the 16th Century through to its recent career as a television and film location.
Clr Peter O’Neill, Kirklees Cabinet member for Communities and Leisure said: “Oakwell is an extremely popular place, but these days it is much more than the country park it was in the 1980s.
“The basic visitor centre and toilets fitted at the time of the last major refurbishment. Now expectations are much higher among visitors and venue hirers, especially couples who choose to hold their wedding here.”
The project is being aided by Arts Council England through its Renaissance strategic support fund.
The historic hall will remain open as usual apart from occasional days when it will close for electrical work to be carried out.
There will be notification of these closures on the museum’s website and families are advised to check opening arrangements before attending.
