Roof repairs approved to tackle museum leaks

Roof repairs at a Grade I listed museum have been approved in a bid to tackle significant and regular leaks which it is feared could eventually lead to historic items being damaged.

The Yorkshire Museum in York's Museum Gardens has seen several near misses, with leaks threatening to affect artefacts and fossils.

Senior curator Dr Andrew Woods said the museum was closing its galleries five times a year on average due to major leaks, which were preventing investment.

The repairs are set to take place over the next two years, following a £2m funding grant from Arts Council England.

The museum, which was completed in 1830, houses a number of Iron Age, Roman, Viking and Medieval artefacts and prehistoric remains, including dinosaur bones.

In the last three years, one leak had led to a pool of water forming on top of a cabinet housing Iron Age artefacts, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Meanwhile, water had also been found running down the back of a case containing a Jurassic Ichthyosaur specimen and dripping into a cabinet full of Roman burial finds.

Woods said it was mainly down to luck that there had not been more damage to the museum's collections.

"There are galleries and spaces within the museum where we cannot put our most important or sensitive collections," he said.

"While we have a strong connection, it can be enhanced by loaning objects from other institutions.

"But there are galleries within the museum where this is not possible because the water risk is too high.

"Without confidence to invest in our permanent galleries, we are missing out on up to 75,000 visitors per annum - this would equate to the loss of potential annual revenue in excess of £500,000."

Woods said this would threaten the financial viability of the museum over the long term.

The first phase of repairs funded by the Arts Council grant is set to focus on the roof above the museum's Tempest Anderson hall and its main entrances.

Kathryn Blacker, York Museums Trust's chief executive, said the funding would help address some essential building works, improve the experience for visitors and ensure the museum remained sustainable.

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