Oxford Direct Services has started work on the first phase of redeveloping the Museum of Oxford, removing a dividing wall and stripping out set dressing that covered the original walls and windows
The £3.2m project will create an award-winning museum and heritage events space in the centre of Oxford, with funding coming from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the City Council and the Museum’s development trust.
Work on phase one will strip back the space to make way for the development work, and it aims to be finished by the autumn of this year. The work will involve the removal of the 1970s intrusive building work and enable the restoration of the Victorian grandeur of the Grade II* listed Town Hall.
Phase two will create two larger accessible galleries, learning spaces and a welcome area and gift shop, and is expected to be completed by autumn 2020.
Mary Clarkson, Cabinet Member for Culture and City Centre, said: “This redevelopment will see the Museum transformed to be a fitting space for the story of this world-famous city and its people.”