'We can't keep learning lessons' – council approves museum cash injection amid cost warnings
Ipswich Borough Council has voted unanimously to pump a further £492,625 into the Ipswich Museum renovation – but not without a pointed warning from the leader of the Conservative Group that the authority cannot keep repeating the same mistakes on major projects.
Why it matters: The additional funding, approved at the council's executive meeting on Tuesday, 24 March, brings the total cost of the project to £12.3 million – up from an original budget of £8.7 million. The museum, which has been closed since October 2022, is now not expected to reopen until early 2027, having initially been planned for 2025.
The details: The extra £492,625 is attributed to what the council describes as "additional unexpected costs, ongoing high price levels and inflation." Half of the sum – £246,312.50 – will come directly from council funds, with the remaining £246,312.50 underwritten pending a successful application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), which has already contributed £5,687,297 to the project.
What they're saying: Councillor Carole Jones, the authority's lead for museums, acknowledged the project had been more challenging than anticipated but insisted the extra investment was essential.
"We have been here several times, but we are now in the final phase of this important project," she said. "It is beautiful, but now we come to pay the bill for that building work."
She added: "It was bound to be complicated, and we could not know precisely what those complications would be when we began."
Conservative Group leader Councillor Ian Fisher said the council was so far into the project that voting against the additional funding was not a realistic option.
"Undoubtedly, it is a wonderful project, and it will be a jewel in the crown for Ipswich," he said, before reminding fellow councillors that "we can't keep learning lessons and taking expert advice and be in the same position."
For context: Ipswich Museum first opened in 1881. The renovation project, which also involves funding from the Wolfson Foundation, the Foyle Foundation, and the Friends of Ipswich Museums, has seen its budget increase by more than £3.6 million since it began. External fundraising, originally budgeted at £490,000, has exceeded its target, according to the council.
The bottom line: The museum will reopen, but more than two years later than planned, and at a cost nearly £3.6 million higher than originally budgeted. Councillors voted unanimously to see the project through, though the warning from Councillor Fisher that lessons must genuinely be learned this time will linger long after the doors reopen.
We were given exclusive access inside Ipswich Museum ahead of Tuesday's vote – read our full feature on what we saw and what it means for the town.
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