Alistair Hardaker | Image: Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery (Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery)
Carlisle museum begins staged closure from 12 January as part of Breaking Down Barriers scheme to display over 100,000 collection objects.
Tullie House Museum in Carlisle will implement a phased closure of its Border Galleries from 12 January as part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund-backed Breaking Down Barriers project.
The museum will initially close sections of the Border Galleries later this month, whilst maintaining access to the railway carriages, badger tunnel, terrain areas and routes to the Wildlife Dome and Costume Gallery.
A complete closure of the Border Galleries will follow on 23 February, at which point the Wildlife Dome and Costume Gallery will also become temporarily inaccessible, though these galleries themselves are not undergoing changes.
The closures form part of Project Tullie, the museum’s ongoing redevelopment programme, and will enable contractors to transform the Border Galleries to accommodate more than 100,000 objects from the collection. The museum stated the full closure approach will provide better access for staff and contractors and ensure safe working conditions during the transformation.
The Roman Gallery, Gladiators exhibition, Uncovering Roman Carlisle exhibition, Old Tullie House, the Pre-Raphaelites gallery and the gallery celebrating Carlisle will remain open throughout the works. The museum shop, Café Tullie, and the institution’s family activities, events and community programmes will continue to operate during the redevelopment phase.
The museum has indicated it plans to launch a campaign inviting visitors to share photographs and memories of the Border Galleries.
