Thousands of pounds has been spent on the now paused project to extend Nuneaton’s Museum and Art Gallery. Earlier this year, the council revealed that the plans to expand the building with a two wing extension have been put on hold.
But resident Michele Kondakor quizzed council leader, councillor Kris Wilson, about why the original plan for a one-side extension was swapped for two extensions, and asked how much money had been spent so far on the project, including architect and planning fees. In response, Cllr Wilson said that £134,000 had been spent.
He also stressed that the project had not been thrown out altogether. “The economic climate has changed since the original business case for the Transforming Nuneaton projects were approved,” he said at a full council meeting.
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“We have faced the impact of Covid, the war on Ukraine and inflation and interest rate increases. Simply put, the cost of our transformation project has increased since they were originally costed several years ago.
“That means that we must take difficult decisions and reprioritise the projects so that we spend the money we do have wisely. Prioritising Grayson Place including the cinema, food hall, the college and India Red refurb, and ‘Bridge to Living,’ is critical to our town centre.
“The museum has only been put on hold, all of the work we have done can still be used in the future and we will continue to look at other funding sources for the museum. I can confirm that the total costs £145,000 to date.”
‘Cultural vandalism’
In regards to the element of the question in regards to why the original plans for one glass extension was changed to two glass extensions – on each side of the building, Cllr Wilson said: “It was completely out of keeping with the design of the museum,” Cllr Wilson said. “It would have been cultural vandalism to proceed with a design that failed to honour and respect the architecture of the main building.
“Look at the museum head on, it is clear for all to see, it is designed in a symmetrical design as the park itself. A one sided extension would have destroyed that symmetry and I would not sign up for something that would ruin the design of the original building.
“We either do it properly or not at all, I make no apologies for that.” Mrs Kondakor asked a further question about why no contingencies were put in place for the projects and went on to allege that the leader had ‘taken his finger off the pulse’, to which he responded: “I remind her that the projects were put together in 2018/19 and there were contingencies. Unless she has been in a coma or absent for these past five or six years, anyone who has any sense will know that there has been the Ukraine war, the impact of Covid and the fact that interest rates have increased and inflation rates have increased.
“What we could pay for, would say £1 back in 2018 now costs £5/£10 now.” He added that they had to ‘act accordingly, otherwise it would have bankrupt this authority’.
Cllr Keith Kondakor then asked for the museum project to be debated at a scrutiny panel, but this motion was lost. Both Cllr Wilson and Mrs Kondakor are standing in the local elections , which are being held across the borough on Thursday, May 2. The full details of all of the candidates can be found here.