THE Jorvik Viking Centre showcased an innovative approach to business to overcome one of the worst disasters in its history.
Earlier this year the York attraction re-opened, 16 months after it closed to the public following the Boxing Day floods in 2015.
The reopening was on time and on budget having raised almost £1.25 million towards the rebuilding cost.
The whole redevelopment project, entitled ‘Re-imagining JORVIK’ had cost in the region of £4.5million with the remainder of the funding being raised through insurance cover.
Over the opening weekend alone JORVIK welcomed almost 4,000 visitors, rising to more than 140,000 since April, marking a 9 per cent rise in visitor numbers and 18 per cent increase in revenue.
When the floods hit the technical team at the centre managed to create a makeshift flood barrier which held the water back long enough for a team of curators and volunteers to remove all of the irreplaceable artefacts from the underground galleries, but by the morning of December 28, much of the recreation of Viking-age York was under up to a metre of water.
Once the waters were pumped out of the water and the building secured work began to plan on re-building JORVIK. It was quickly and enthusiastically agreed that the centre should not only be repaired and rebuild but completely transformed, re-imagined into a new experience that would be bigger and better than the previous versions of this thirty-year old attraction.
Paul Whiting, marketing manager, said: “JORVIK is now looking forward to continued prosperity, with flood mitigation equipment installed and an upcoming of series of changing exhibition content from other Viking-age museum collections from across the UK, throughout the year to keep our visitors interested and entertained in the re-imagined JORVIK experience.”
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