Kirklees Council Museums hail £4m boost to economy

This good news article has been taken from the Huddersfield Examiner today!

Kirklees’ museums and galleries helped provide a £4m boost to the economy, the council has boasted.

Just 18 months on from the closure of two of the borough’s museums – the Bronte themed Red House at Gomersal and the Dewsbury Museum in Crow Nest Park – officials have been revealing how well the remaining ones are doing.

Kirklees Council has claimed its five remaining venues – Tolson Museum, Huddersfield Art Gallery, Bagshaw Museum, Oakwell Hall and Batley Art Gallery – are playing a huge part in attracting visitors to the area.

Amid news that West Yorkshire’s local authority museums generated over £34m to the regional economy last year and attracted over 1.7m visitors through their doors – Kirklees says its own museums contributed over £4m to this figure.

The news comes despite huge cuts to the museums budgets and uncertainty about the future of the council’s highest profile venue – the Tolson Museum at Moldgreen. There was outcry in 2016 when the historic venue was earmarked for closure amid claims it needed more than £4m in repairs.

Hope of a u-turn was raised last September when the council was awarded £40,000 for a revamp of the entrance – a move that left supporters sure the museum would now be saved.

But almost a year on, there has been no official change of position from the council nor any update on its stated plans to open a new museum in the place of the Tolson.

News that Kirklees’ museums have played their part in lifting the West Yorkshire cultural economy was welcomed by senior councillor, Graham Turner.

Commenting on a new video which has been produced to show the huge range of museums and galleries available in the region, he said: “This engaging film really shows the amazing wealth of collections and rich heritage being cared for and made accessible across the West Yorkshire region.

“I am delighted that our own Kirklees’ heritage sites are featured, because as a lifelong resident of Kirklees I am proud of our history and the role our fantastic museums and galleries play in telling our story, raising the profile of the area and evidently supporting the economy.

“They are a strong element of our cultural offer which attracts people to live, work, learn and invest here, and they encourage lots of people of all ages to learn and connect with each other.

“And they are all just on our doorstep so I would encourage everyone to visit.”

Sarah Maxfield, from the Arts Council England, added: “England has some of the finest regional museums in the world, with extraordinary collections ranging from the earliest prehistory to modern art and science. It’s great to see the social and economic benefits West Yorkshire’s museums provide presented in such a creative and lively way in this video.”

To see the video follow the link below.

For more information visit https://bit.ly/2KbYplW