Major Museum Expansion
Trustees at the Bucks County Museum have this week appliedfor £5million oflottery moneyso they can embark on a major expansion projectin Aylesbury.
The cash would be supplemented by £1million of local fundraising and grants to pave the way for a massive facelift at the historic site in Church Street.
If the bid is successful, the display area will be doubled at the 500 year-old county museum.
The café, shop and community spaces will also be made significantly larger by 2019 under the proposals.
Meanwhile, the 150-year-old collectionsat the museumareshortlybeing enriched bytwotop secrethigh-profile national collectionswhich areunder wraps until paperwork is finalised
Richard De Peyer, Director of the Bucks County Museum Trust, said: “The museum is extremely popular but it is a bit limited at present because of insufficient space. We can only currently show less than one per cent of our collection, and the lack of room means the museum is not best suited to the schools’ curriculum.
“We are really excited by the project which includes lots of community activities and fantastic volunteer projects to accompany development.
“If we are successful, it would be a huge boost for Buckinghamshire’s heritage and for local people who are keen to learn about their past and countryside. The museum would have a great deal more space to display collections and we would be able to simplify the layout.”
He added: “The expansion would allow us to create displays that would tell the chronological story of Bucks in a really interesting way. The financial viability of the museum would also be improved thanks to the larger café and shop. We are keeping our fingers crossed!.”