I am delighted to share that the proposal to close Abbey House Museum has been withdrawn, and so the Museum will not close!
Leeds City Council are considering other routes to make the necessary savings in next year’s budget, so although the Museum will not close it does need to change to make efficiency savings.
This is fantastic news as our local Kirkstall Councillors have worked so hard to ensure this outcome.
Please see the press release for further information: https://loom.ly/v8lp5JY
***UPDATE***
Following the public meeting, held on Sunday 9th February, I can now share the following updates.
The meeting aimed to share ideas for how Abbey House Museum can operate moving forward to create efficiency savings.
There were a number of speakers at the meeting including Martin Holman, from the Headingley Branch of the Royal British Legion who proposed that their branch would be keen to have the use of a display cabinet within the Museum and could commit to maintain it as a record of service in the Forces by local veterans.
Steve Holt, from Kirkstall Brewery, also spoke, proposing that Kirkstall Brewery would like to have a ‘Brewseum’ in the Norman Hall and a Belgian style café there (he stressed that this would not be a pub) selling food and drink. They would pay rent for this usage.
A number of other speakers proposed ideas for income generation and cost savings. You can read the full minutes, kindly provided by Councillor Andy Rontree, here:
Cllr Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s Executive Board Member for Adult Social Care, Active Lifestyles and Culture, concluded the meeting by advising that she would carefully consider the ideas raised at the meeting.