Treasured museum unlocked again
Willenhall Lock Museum will reopen to the public, it was revealed today, nine months after it was controversially shut down in a funding crisis.
The announcement was made by the new chief executive of the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) Andrew Lovett, as he told there would be no major building projects at the Dudley site for the foreseeable future. It had been planned to move the Locksmith's House in New Road to the replica Victorian village brick-by-brick after it closed in December.
But Mr Lovett said that idea had been "kicked into the long grass" after the museum in Tipton Road missed out on a £500,000 grant from waste management firm Biffa.
He said the Lock Museum will open in October, following a massive backlash from campaigners and residents who wanted to see it kept in the town.
"I know the Lock Museum is loved by a lot of people and I know there was a lot of disquiet at the thought of moving it or shutting it down," he said.
"Now our plans to build a replica have been put back it did seem a crying shame to keep it closed and that is why we are going to reopen it."
He added a replica of the building could still be erected at the museum in the future. Details of opening hours and staffing have not been finalised.
Mr Lovett said work on the Old Birmingham Road development which is already under way at BCLM will be completed but then there will be a "pause" in the planned expansion of the attraction.
The spending freeze comes after regional development agency Advantage West Midlands (AWM) cancelled almost £2.4 million of funding - part of cost-cutting measures totalling £132 million. Mr Lovett said: "We need to accept that, for the moment, major developments on site funded by money coming in from public sources have come to an end. I was disappointed the AWM bid did not come off and we also missed out on an award through Biffa. It would be disingenuous of me to say I was not sorry about that."
