A council decision to invest more money into the redevelopment of a County Durham museum has been criticised.
Durham County Council has allocated a further £2.6 million in its budget for the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) Art Museum and Gallery in Durham City.
The building, which previously housed the collection of historic DLI artefacts, closed in 2016 after falling into a state of disrepair.
A new exhibition centre, gallery and cafe will be built at the redeveloped site. It is expected to attract between 60,000 and 150,000 visitors a year.
But, members of the Labour Party have questioned the “ambiguity” around the overall cost of the project. Councillors said figures of between £19-23 million have been recently reported.
Labour leader Carl Marshall urged the council to “come clean” about its spending choices for capital projects including the DLI site.
He told a scrutiny meeting: “We’ve never seen a business case about how footfall is going to increase or not; what the council subsidy is going to be; how many staff are going to be based there; what the operating hours are going to be; where the income is coming from.
“The only information we’ve got as members is that we’ve got a capital budget that’s been topped up over a number of years.
“With any business in the world, you would have a business plan that is robust and happy to stand behind. Given the amount of resources put into this and the fact we’re going to ask every community across the county to pay more in tax next year, I think it’s really important that we do that.”
The local authority said the extra funding is required to “meet rising construction price inflation and the outcome of value engineering works impacts on the scheme”. Additional funding for the project has also been received from Arts Council England and the North East Combined Authority.
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The Joint Administration in charge of Durham County Council - made up of Conservatives, Lib Dems and Independents - previously said there would be no net cost to the council taxpayer and funding has been generated through the sale of The Sands building to Durham University on the banks of the River Wear.
“The commitment to do that and reopen the DLI Museum reversed two massively unpopular calls made by Labour, which cost them dearly when residents had an opportunity to make their voices heard at the ballot box,” said Lib Dem councillor Elizabeth Scott.
The council’s cabinet member for economy and partnerships added: “The attraction will be properly promoted and celebrated as an important and valued cultural venue. This approach is in sharp contrast to what Labour did, which was to neglect the museum and refuse to market it, then run it into the ground and close it.”
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