Huddersfield's historic Tolson Museum is in line to be closed.
Kirklees Council is to ask for people’s views on the future of its museums and galleries but is considering shutting three of them: Tolson Museum, Dewsbury Museum and Red House Museum.
Huddersfield Art Gallery is also earmarked for closure but a new plan is to merge it with Tolson in an as yet undecided town centre location.
The moves are described by council chiefs as “inevitable” as they battle budget cuts.
The council says they are looking to make changes which will save money whilst maintaining high-quality local attractions for residents and visitors.
A three-week consultation period starts today and people can have their say either online or by attending one of several engagement sessions across Kirklees.
The council’s present museums are Dewsbury Museum in Crow Nest Park; Bagshaw Museum in Wilton Park, Batley; and Tolson Museum in Ravensknowle Park, Huddersfield.
The council also manages Huddersfield Art Gallery and is responsible for two historic houses: Oakwell Hall and Country Park, Birstall; and Red House Museum, Gomersal.
Funding cuts mean the number of sites needs to be reduced and it is being proposed that Oakwell Hall and Country Park would stay open, along with Bagshaw Museum. Both of these sites are in North Kirklees.
In Huddersfield, the Art Gallery and Tolson Museum would stay open for the time being. However, as part of its plans to attract more visitors into a revitalised Huddersfield town centre, the council would look to develop a combined Huddersfield Museum and Art Gallery in a town-centre location still to be decided. Once this was open, Tolson Museum and the current Art Gallery would close and appropriate collections would transfer to the new site.
This would leave the three sites as Oakwell Hall and Country Park, Bagshaw Museum and a new Huddersfield Museum and Art Gallery.
The proposals say the other sites would close with their collections either transferred or stored - and appropriate uses would be found for the buildings.
A spokesman said: “Everyone is welcome to express their opinion and all feedback will be taken into account before a final decision on museums and galleries is made later in the year.
“The council needs to reduce its budget for museums and galleries due to severe cutbacks in government funding, but the changes will reflect the expectations of 21st century audiences.
“New approaches have already been trialled, including pop-up museums and displays in local venues. There is expected to be a mix of activity and a range of different experiences, with collections possibly being taken into local communities.”
The council is planning to work closely with Friends organisations and other local groups and partners in the development of future services.
People can express their views from today until Sunday, July 24 — contact the museum in advance to book your place.
There are consultation sessions planned as follows:
- Dewsbury Museum: Sunday 10th July, 2pm
- Oakwell Hall: Wednesday 13th July, 11am
- Tolson Museum:Wednesday 13th July, 6pm
- Huddersfield Art Gallery: Saturday 16th July, 11am
- Red House Museum:Tuesday 19th July, 6pm
- Bagshaw Museum:. Wednesday 20th July, 3pm
