Next step forward in £18-million plan for Hereford's museum

Up to £200,000 is to be spent on the work at the Broad Street building, including on ground investigations, a drainage survey, paint, plaster and timber surveys and masonry strength testing.

A principal designer, fire engineer and landscape architect will also be taken on to provide specialist advice.

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Work to transform the city’s former library and museum into a “world-class” exhibition and events space can then begin in earnest.

The surveys cash comes from the £18.4 million earmarked for the project overall, jointly funded by Herefordshire Council, the government’s Stronger Towns Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

In July the council is due to agree the spending necessary “to take the project through construction and delivery”, it said.

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The Hereford Stronger Towns Board, which over sees this and 14 other city improvement projects, said last year that the project was “due to open in 2025”.

But according to board meeting minutes from last month, the museum project, along with the relocated library in Shirehall and the Southside skills project, are currently rated “red” – due to being “at greater risk due to their greater complexity”.

The Broad Street building is currently empty following the library’s temporary relocation to Friars Street.