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Campaigners plan ‘show of solidarity’ for Buxton Museum
A public gathering will take place on Saturday 8 June
The We Are Buxton Community Forum is planning a public gathering on 8 June to demonstrate the local community's support for Buxton & Museum Art Gallery, which closed abruptly a year ago due to dry rot in the building.
Derbyshire County Council confirmed last month that the museum would be permanently relocated from the Peak Buildings complex, where it has been since 1928. It said assessments had shown that the costs of repairing the building were "out of our reach as a local authority".
The We Are Buxton forum, which is made up of eight groups in the town, has issued an urgent statement of action calling on members of the public to attend.
It said in the statement: “We remain concerned that another of Buxton’s heritage buildings has an uncertain future”.
The statement called on the council “to ensure that a suitable long term solution is swiftly secured with a view to establishing a viable single venue for the collection in Buxton”.
The forum said it supported the council's efforts to establish “extensive and ongoing interim activities to ensure that the museum and gallery remain accessible to as many people as possible.”
The public gathering and photo opportunity will take place outside the museum at 1100 on Saturday 8 June. Participants will assemble in the Green Man Gallery yard next door to the museum at 1040 before walking to the museum entrance.
Forum spokeswoman Jean Ball urged the public to attend to "illustrate how much Buxton Museum & Art Gallery is missed and the importance of a positive sustainable future for our cultural and heritage resources".