Newcastle's Discovery Museum could move as building in 'decline'

It was revealed this summer that city bosses were considering the future of the venue, with its current home said to be in a “serious state of decline”.

While a significant refurbishment of the grade II listed Blandford House is under consideration, a relocation of the science and local history museum to a new premises in the city is also an option.

A Newcastle City Council report reveals that the options being mulled over include “moving it to a space left empty through the decline in physical retail or a new build”.

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The most prominent empty shopping unit in the city centre is the former Debenhams in Eldon Square. But, while it is understood that no options have been taken off the table for the future of the Discovery Museum, the shuttered department store would seem to be an unlikely option at this stage – given that the shopping centre’s majority owners revealed in September that they have received five bids from leisure firms to take over the site.

The Discovery Museum became the country’s first science museum outside London when it opened in 1934 in Exhibition Park, when it was known as the Municipal Museum of Science and Industry, before moving into the city centre at Blandford House in 1978 and being relaunched in 2004 after a £13m revamp.

It is home to some of the North East’s most prized historical assets, including Charles Parsons’ Turbinia – the first ship to be powered by steam turbines and once the fastest vessel in the world.

After Lib Dem councillor Colin Ferguson asked at a council scrutiny meeting last week what the future would hold for the museum, local authority cabinet member Alex Hay replied that there were a “number of interesting proposals” that could not yet be revealed.
The council’s director of place, Michelle Percy, said: “What is absolutely a given is that the Discovery Museum has a role to play and it will stay in the city.

“Does it need a refresh or reset? It is not about the museum disappearing, it is just about its location, how it is operated, and how we make that offer better and more accessible to all of the city.”

She added: “We are looking at the current offer and looking at what other opportunities there are. It might be able to stay, it might be able to move.”

The council was awarded a grant for almost £150,000 from the North of Tyne Combined Authority earlier this year to conduct a feasibility study on Discovery Museum’s prospects, saying at the time that the existing building is “in a serious state of decline and urgently in need of investment”.

A council spokesperson added on Monday: “The Discovery Museum is an important part of the city’s cultural scene and is a popular visitor attraction. The museum building and exhibitions are in need of some repair and updating to ensure that they are at their best for the many hundreds of thousands of visitors it receives each year. We plan to carry out a feasibility study that looks at all options for its future. 

“Given the fondness the public have for the museum we will ensure they have every opportunity to contribute their views at every stage of the process.”

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