Redevelopment Underway at Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum

The building work on the exciting redevelopment of the Council's Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum got underway last week. This £6 million project will help to revitalise the heart of Bedford's cultural quarter, and make the art gallery and museum more attractive to both local residents and visitors to Bedford. The redeveloped facilities will include new galleries, allowing more of the world class collections to be on display at any one time, and a shop and cafe. Not only will we be able to vastly improve what's on offer to visitors, but we're also managing to reduce the ongoing running costs for local taxpayers through a range of actions including making the buildings more efficient and sustainable and providing new space for corporate hire.

The beginning of the building work represents a big step towards realising the vision for a new Art Gallery and Museum.Central to this project is our desire that more residents of all ages come to experience and enjoy their Art Gallery and Museum in the heart of Bedford.

With the work now under way, we look forward to its completion and to the reopening of the Art Gallery and Museum for the whole community to enjoy.

The building works are scheduled to last for 11 months, followed by 6 months' refitting of the galleries.

This £6 million redevelopment has been made possible by £3.2 million funding from Bedford Borough Council, as well as a grant of £959,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £100,000 from the Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, £500,000 from the Wixamtree Trust, £500,000 from The Bedford Charity, £350,000 from the Monument Trust, and £200,000 from Charles Wells Ltd, in addition to funding from a number of other sources.

The photo on the right shows Arts and Leisure Portfolio Holder Cllr Doug McMurdo and I at Bedford Museum before its closure for the redevelopment.