What's happening with our museum?

 Last week, the Save our Museum and Gallery group, SoMAG, decided we needed to give an update on our museum and art gallery which remains closed to the public. In a town identified as having low cultural engagement, why close the museum and art gallery, without plans for another one, except in the distant future? We sent this letter to the Swindon Advertiser, which they kindly published today:

'Whatever has happened to the wonderful things we used to see in our Museum and Art Gallery?

Like many venues, Apsley House, the building that housed Swindon’s beloved “crocodile” and the Egyptian mummy, closed because of the pandemic. Unlike other venues, it remains closed. Swindon Borough Council’s leaders say a new museum and art exhibition facility should be built in the centre of town, as part of a planned cultural quarter. So the collections have been put into storage, and Swindon residents can see a few of the artworks via worthy but small exhibitions called Art on Tour.

Swindon Borough Council’s leaders admit it will take at least ten years for the new facility to be built. The Save our Museum and Art Gallery (SoMAG) have asked the council to ensure that the collections have a suitable home until then. In December 2021, the Cabinet decided to convert the entire top floor of the Civic Offices into a museum and art gallery. So far, so good. But something does not add up.

In March 2019, the council estimated it would cost £1,864,000 to convert the first floor of the Civic Offices. It now claims it will cost £400,000. We have asked how the cost of conversion can have fallen by £1,464,000, but had no answer.

Our rapidly growing town is already identified by the Arts Council as having low cultural engagement. This is shameful. A significant part of our culture is locked up somewhere, out of sight.

For two months, we have been trying to meet the Culture Councillor, Robert Jandy, to discuss when we will have a museum and art gallery fit for the town. Swindon risks becoming a dormitory town, with huge housing estates and no facilities. Instead, let’s create a place we can all enjoy, and let’s start by valuing what we have got. Swindon Museum and Art Gallery remains closed and it is not good enough.

Linda Kasmaty

Chair of the Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery(FSMAG)  and Save our Museum and Gallery (SoMAG)'

Here's a link to the letter in the Swindon Advertiser: 

Letters: What's happening with our museum? | Swindon Advertiser 

With this photo standing outside the Civic Offices before a council meeting: