Plans have been approved by Harlow Council for a new café and the future extension of education provision and exhibition space at Harlow Museum & Walled Gardens.
The plans were approved on 9 October 2024 by the council’s Development Management Committee. The original plans unveiled in November 2023 were revised following feedback from the public and organisations. The museum will now be extended into the courtyard instead of into the gardens.
The extension is part of a long-term plan for enhancing the museum service. The approved plans include new exhibition space, new reception, washroom, along with a café, teaching space and community space as part of an extension to the former scouts building on First Avenue. Works will also take place to enhance the landscaping around the museum site.
The plans are designed to bring more schools into the museum, increase exhibition space for more displays and artefacts, enhance visitor experience and provide new pedestrian routes into the museum. The designs were developed using funding secured by the council from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The approved plans will begin the journey towards the first major refurbishment of the museum since it opened in March 2002 when two former museums – the Mark Hall Cycle Museum and Harlow Museum at Passmores House become one new museum for the town. The council will need to secure external grant funding to help deliver the plans and the work on applying for funding will start shortly.
Councillor Danielle Brown, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Community and Wellbeing, said:
“We have listened to the feedback we received on the original proposals and have revised the plans which are exciting for the future enhancement of the museum service. The plans will improve educational provision by providing a much-needed teaching space. The proposals will also enhance visitor experience and bring new income into the council with a café on site to help support the services the council provides.
“It is an exciting time for the museum with works taking place to restore the garden walls and major upgrades have just been completed to the facility’s indoor lighting and other internal improvements, and there is more to come! This is all part of our mission to deliver high performing services by providing more activities and events and investing in our much-loved community services like the museum.
“The museum does such a fantastic job in telling the town’s story and we want to do what we can to enable staff and volunteers to tell that story to even more people including our children and young people.”
Images courtesy of McBains.
