EFFORTS to stop a threat to one of the country's oldest purpose-built museums in York have been backed.
Repairs to the roof of the almost two-century-old Yorkshire Museum have been approved to tackle significant and regular leaks into the building.
Museum Senior Curator Dr Andrew Woods said leaks threatened to damage internationally significant artefacts and fossils and were preventing investment which could bring in more than £500,000 a year in extra earnings.
Dr Woods added the museum was closing its galleries five times a year on average due to major leaks and it may ultimately have to leave its home if problems get worse.
It comes after £2 million in national funding was awarded to help pay for the repairs following a successful bid from operator York Museums Trust.
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Works on the building, in Museum Gardens, are set to take place over the next two years following approval of the plans.
The museum, one of the first to be purpose-built in the country, houses a number of Iron Age, Roman, Viking and Medieval artefacts and prehistoric remains including dinosaur bones.
Collections include the medieval Middleham Jewel and Anglo-Saxon Coppergate Helmet, which was unearthed in York, with around 80,000 people visiting the museum every year.
News of the grant came after senior curator Dr Woods warned the museum's future in its current home, which opened in 1830, was under threat by its state of repair.
Near misses in the last three years include leaks leaving a pool of water on top of a cabinet housing Iron Age artefacts.
Water was also found running down the back of a case containing a Jurassic Ichthyosaur specimen and dripping into a cabinet full of Roman burial finds.
Senior Curator Dr Woods said it was mainly down to luck that there had not been more damage to collections.
But he added emergency responses to leaks were taking up ever more resources and if the situation deteriorated unique objects could be damaged beyond repair.
Dr Woods said: “There are galleries and spaces within the museum where we cannot put our most important or sensitive collections.
“Whilst we have a strong connection, it can be enhanced by loaning objects from other institutions but there are galleries within the museum where this is not possible because the water risk is too high.
“Without confidence to invest in our permanent galleries we are missing out on up to 75,000 visitors per annum, this would equate to the loss of potential annual revenue in excess of £500,000.
“The inability to invest in the expansion of our galleries threatens the financial viability of the museum over the long term.”
The £2 million Arts Council England cash was less than the £5 million originally bid for so works will focus on the most urgent repairs to the Grade I-listed museum.
Another bid is planned when the next round of funding becomes available, according to a City of York Council report.
Additions made to the museum's drainage system since it was built has led to it becoming unfit to discharge water effectively during periods of heavy rainfall.
Plans stated: “The existing downpipes are in poor condition and are a direct threat to the care of the museum collections and wider building fabric.”
The first phase of repairs funded by the Arts Council grant is set to focus on the roof above the museum's Tempest Anderson hall and its main entrances.
York Museums Trust Chief Executive Kathryn Blacker said the funding would help address some essential building works, improve the experience for visitors and ensure the museum remains sustainable.
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