00:00I'm here at Sun and Museum Winter Gardens to find out more about the £13.1 million
00:11investment in transforming the museum and garden. Let's go inside and find out more.
00:16Okay then trainer I understand £13.1 million is going to be invested in the museum so yeah
00:24just tell me what it's going to be invested on and what visitors in the future can expect to see.
00:28Well the funding is going to be invested in a number of areas and in particular we're going
00:34to be developing two new gallery spaces one called a window on Wearside and one called the
00:38Sunderland Story. We're also going to be introducing a new community learning engagement space called
00:44the Growing Space which is going to bookend where the shop is now with the Winter Gardens so we're
00:51going to turn the entrance that is currently in situ now into the park so we can make a lot more
00:56of our natural landscape and our beautiful award-winning Wilbur Park and really focus on getting more of
01:04the collection out into those community spaces with new interpretation new landscaping and new
01:10improvements around signage and way finding but also around introducing new social spaces and
01:18customer facilities which are quite tired at the moment and in need of improvement.
01:24When you say customer facilities what sort of things are we talking about there then?
01:28Well we're looking at new touch down spaces for people to just come and dwell and not everybody
01:32wants to visit a museum and what has in it when it does visit it wants to just come and you know enjoy
01:38enjoy this space and it's going to be an opportunity for people to just come and just you know look after
01:45their well-being and and just sit in within the Winter Gardens and just enjoy the surroundings and
01:50we'll have new toilet facilities and a new sort of changing places facility as well but also really just
01:58about being able to move around the museum a lot more freer but learning a lot more about the history and the heritage of the city.
02:06Just how important is it that we do have facilities like this you know to showcase our city's heritage and history?
02:10Well I think it's fair to say that Sunderland's going through a transformational journey and I think the museum is at the heart of that and it's going to be really
02:18important that it plays its part as part of celebrating what what Sunderland has to offer and there are new developments taking place
02:26constantly across the city and it's really changed in the last ten years and we're now going to be part of that journey so we will see we will see a brand new museum with
02:35um a better visitor offer that will be able to be showcased across the city.
02:41Okay and Councillor Jones so just tell me about what's competing being invested in the museum and
02:45how it's going to be spent in place. Yeah so we're absolutely delighted that the uh the National Lottery
02:50Heritage Fund has given um 5.2 million as well as an additional 300 000 towards the development of the museum.
02:59There will be additional funding coming in from the council and from additional funding streams.
03:05And just how important is it that we use facilities like this to preserve our heritage preserve our culture
03:11our traditions and also to inform people about you know the important things which made Sunderland as it is today?
03:17So the museum itself is really symbolic on the on the Sunderland footprint so it has been open since
03:231879 it was the first civic building outside of London the scientific collections heritage collections
03:31maritime collections there really is something for everybody when they come along to the museum itself.
03:37And do you have a time frame about when these developments are going to take place?
03:39Yeah so work will start in January 2026 and we anticipate the museum shutting in October 2026 for
03:46around about 14 months and we expect the full works to be completed by 2029.
03:52And just how transformational is this going to be for the museum?
03:55The museum itself hasn't had any significant work done on it since the early 2000s so it really is
04:01time to transform the museum really exciting and the the designs look really inspirational and I think
04:09it's ready to evolve into the next decade.
04:30Okay then I understand that you were actually involved in the original opening of the museum
04:33in Winter Garden so yeah just a bit of background what your involvement was please.
04:37Yeah I had involvement back in 2001 I project managed the sort of Winter Gardens and the
04:44Mulberry Park and museum development and then I moved across to the National Lottery at that point
04:51in my career so it's really nice to be sort of back here today to see how it's developed.
04:56So how pleased are you and the Heritage Lottery Fund to be donating £5.2 million to the next stage of
05:02this development? The National Lottery Fund I think the Sunland City Council have made a really good
05:09case for the investment to refresh the Winter Gardens, refresh the museum, bring in new entrants and
05:17new gallery spaces and link again the Winter Gardens and the museum and the park all together so
05:22it's a collective space for people to come and enjoy. And obviously you're from Sunland as well so just how
05:28important is it that we have facilities like this to promote and preserve our city's heritage?
05:33It basically tells the story of Sunland. You've got all the industrial heritage here,
05:38there's collections around the ship building, the coal mining, you've got all of those elements
05:46how Sunland evolved and that's all told through the collections that are in the museum here.
05:51And excited to come back on a later day to see how the developments have taken place? Absolutely, I couldn't, can't wait.
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