Dewsbury Museum to close on 6 November

Kirklees Council has announced that they will be closing Dewsbury Museum on 6 November 2016. The closure to the public is the first step in withdrawing the museum’s service from the building.
This means that the Grade 2 listed Dewsbury Museum and shop will no longer be open to the public. The café next door remains open along with the greenhouse and adventure playground. Red House Museum in Gomersal will also close to the public on 21 December.
The council agreed to close Dewsbury Museum, in Crow Nest Park and Red House in Gomersal at a meeting on 3 October 2016 as part of a wider reorganisation of the Museums Service that will see the council save £531,000.
The items from the Museums will be moved into storage whilst officers consider how items can be displayed in future, for the benefit of the people of Kirklees.
The council will now start the process for gathering expressions of interest to take over the running of the buildings. An information pack will be available online before the end of November 2016
It is expected that the council will make decisions on any expressions of interest in Spring 2016. If nobody from the community is willing to take over the running of the buildings, the council will look at placing them for sale on the open market. 
Cllr Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Resources said: “The council did not want to be in this position. Nobody wants to close museums but we do need to react to these times of austerity and make savings.
“I am sorry that people will no longer be able to access these museums, but I can assure you that we will do everything possible to look after the collections.
“Following our recent consultation, we know that the public support our plan to find new and innovative ways for them to view the collections, and we will be doing more of this in the future.
“Museums are not just about buildings it’s about using the collections to tell the story of our past and how they influence what we do today.”