Captain Cook Birthplace Museum Closure Reversed

[MBBoro]

£345,000 cost to the local authority over two years for an unused museum just doesn't seem like the win its being presented as. There are so many better ways to spend that sort of money on something that would be genuinely needed and used in the park.

Again, I appreciate the effort of all involved and understand the reality is it would just be money saved and lost in balancing the books rather than reinvested.

 

[Geoff_B]

Well done on your hard work Rob. Fully support the museum

 

[Redwurzel]

Good news on the saving of the Museum

I did mention there was fantastic exhibition at the British Library on the Voyages of Cook around 6 years ago - Where are these materials now? Could they be transferred to the the CC Birthplace Museum. I thought I knew quite a bit about Cook, but learnt much more. The Exhibition is too big for the current museum at Stewarts Park, but maybe some of it could be used?

 

[kuepper]

Whilst I appreciate the efforts of all the people involved, and the fact that we need more cultural and tourist attractions ... the museum is terrible.

Would be a much better fit being located as a subsection of MIMA, and it's current venue being repurposed to something more befitting and appropriate for a park.

A lot of places have turned these sort of venues into nature centres, where people can go and handle, and learn about, wildlife etc. I'm sure there'd be many more better suggestions.

 

[fmttmadmin]

Good news on the saving of the Museum

I did mention there was fantastic exhibition at the British Library on the Voyages of Cook around 6 years ago - Where are these materials now? Could they be transferred to the the CC Birthplace Museum. I thought I knew quite a bit about Cook, but learnt much more. The Exhibition is too big for the current museum at Stewarts Park, but maybe some of it could be used?

I saw the same exhibition and followed up on it at the time. Sadly it wasnt available it seems.

 

[fmttmadmin]

£345,000 cost to the local authority over two years for an unused museum just doesn't seem like the win its being presented as. There are so many better ways to spend that sort of money on something that would be genuinely needed and used in the park.

Again, I appreciate the effort of all involved and understand the reality is it would just be money saved and lost in balancing the books rather than reinvested.

I totally take issue with your figures.
And the museum is a pay museum for the public and for school groups.

 

[Cambsred]

We went last year. The Museum content itself was not really a hit with the kids but they are quite young. The activities put on however were really simple and engaging and they love that.

I think we are in a strange time now, where the cost of everything is really deeply analysed, but the wider value of these things is not really looked at and often lost when these things are closed for good.

Keep cutting public spending and services and soon all we will have left are big supermarkets and amazon.

 

[fmttmadmin]

Popular museum to reopen as options to secure future are explored



A popular Middlesbrough museum will remain open as options are explored to secure its future, Middlesbrough’s Mayor has announced.

The Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Stewart Park had been earmarked for potential closure this year, as Middlesbrough Council looked to make £14m of budget savings.

A £2 daily car parking charge had also been proposed at the Marton park as the Council looked to balance its budget to deal with the impact of long-term high inflation and massive rises in the cost of delivering adult and children’s social care.

But after a town-wide public consultation with residents, Mayor Chris Cooke has announced that car parking charges will now not be introduced – while a decision on the museum will be deferred to allow the Council time to review its options.

This could include searching for a third-party provider to run the venue, reducing running costs and developing a plan to attract more visitors.

The museum will open as normal in April as further work continues.

Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke said: “Since being elected last May, I have made tough decisions to get a grip on the Council’s finances and build an organisation better equipped to deliver the high quality services the people of Middlesbrough deserve.

“But the strength of public opinion on the proposed closure of the museum, and potential car parking charges at Stewart Park, made it clear that we needed to reconsider.

“I want to thank members of the Captain Cook Birthplace Trust and Ward Councillors for their hard work in trying to find a solution, and I’m delighted we’re now in a position to reopen the museum in April.

“I’d urge the people of Middlesbrough to support the venue as we continue to work to secure its future.”

Martin Peagam, Chair of the Captain Cook Birthplace Trust, said: “The Trust recognises the importance of the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, a view which is shared by many people both locally and across the globe.

“We’ve always been clear that it is vital to safeguard the museum for future generations.

“The Trust is very pleased to work with the Mayor and Middlesbrough Council to secure its future and I wish to thank everyone who has expressed support, both locally and internationally.”

Middlesbrough Council’s 2024/25 budget is set to be agreed by members of the Executive on February 28, before it is voted upon by the full council at a special meeting on March 8.

It includes savings of around £14m, while the Council is awaiting confirmation from the Government that an application for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) has been successful.

EFS allows the council to access short-term borrowing to cover a budget shortfall of around £4.7m.

Other savings that remain in the budget include a switch to fortnightly refuse collection, while a £40 charge will be introduced for green waste collection.

 

[sledge]

Aplace I've never been though don't live in middlesbrough is it open daily nybe Saturday mornings before match

 

[MBBoro]

I totally take issue with your figures.
And the museum is a pay museum for the public and for school groups.

Rob, for the third time I appreciate your efforts in respect of looking out for the interests of a wider community.

The figure came from the article you shared 'The proposed closure would have saved the council £345,000 over the next two years.'

That's a hell of a lot of money for an underused museum. I hope you don't feel attacked by this, I thought it was about open discussion. My opinion is the building and funding could be far better repurposed. A permanent exhibition of Captain Cook could be placed elsewhere, MIMA was a suggestion with absolutely no due diligence admittedly.

 

[Redwurzel]

I saw the same exhibition and followed up on it at the time. Sadly it wasnt available it seems.

The British Library is partly funded by all of us and alos by all our National natural resources.

If its that key exhibition resources are not avaialble to people living outside London - its clearly a big example of how National resources/money is used in London, but not outside. This leads to another thread on here - about how cities and towns are crap in the provinces relative to London!

 

[fmttmadmin]

The British Library is partly funded by all of us and our National natural resources.

If its that key exhibition resources are not avaialble to people living outside London - its clearly a big example of how National resources/money is used in London, but not outside. This leads to another thread on here - about how cities and towns are crap in the provinces relative to London!

Apologies - I saw a small exhibition in the British Museum about Cook in the Pacific that was the one I hoped we could bring to Teesside. Yes, the Voyages of Cook exhibition was phenomenal. But it was far too big to even think of bringing even a tiny segment to our museum and that is part of the problem - the space is too tight for exhibitions.

These are the kinds of things we can now investigate. People do come from all over the world to visit as the visitor book attests. We ought to investigate how to make the museum into a world attraction for 2028 the 300th birthday of James Cook. It is a once a 100 year opportunity for the museum and Teesside.

 

[Redwurzel]

Think a bit bigger.....................to attract visitors from all over the UK and the World.

If the materials have been already produced its then how to use some of them and possibly rotate them. The biggest cost I would expect is the original production. The Museum had a large upstairs room that was not even used for Cook stuff when I went. It was used for a Mackenzie Thorpe exhibition and drawing of birds by teenager from Thorntree from the 1950s when he explored the woods in Ormesby.

The British Library also held a series of talks about Cook and his voyages. Are the powerpoint files still available? I went to one of the talks. There was as strange atmosphere at the talk as the presenters appeared embarrased by what Cook had done - for the the last 15 minutes the BL presenters vanished and played a video about the natives lamenting the European invasion of Australia in song and the audience found their own way out.