The Stage

Theatre Museum will not move to Blackpool, says V&A

Published Tuesday 2 December 2008 at 16:05 by Lalayn Baluch

Plans to relocate the Covent Garden Theatre Museum to Blackpool, or any other location, have been shelved after a feasibility study revealed that the proposal was financially unviable.

The seaside resort first expressed an interest in housing the theatre collection in 2006, when parent organisation the Victoria and Albert Museum decided it could no longer afford to run the London site.

It was reported that the locations under consideration were the resort’s abortive super-casino site and the Winter Gardens.

At the time, the V&A had given a “very firm handshake” to the principle of the museum drawing on its theatre collection. A £50,000 feasibility study was undertaken by the organisation and Blackpool Council, funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

However, a spokesperson for the V&A has now told The Stage: “The findings of the feasibility report indicated that the capital cost of creating and the revenue cost of then running, a major new museum with a large permanent display was going to be very high. There were significant doubts over the fund-raising potential for this and the value for money of the project.”

According to the spokesperson, the V&A’s new Theatre and Performance Galleries, which will open next March, will provide the same amount of permanent display space that was available in Covent Garden.

She added that the museum would now make plans to tour temporary exhibitions to Blackpool, which would not have “the heavy capital, running and curatorial costs of a permanent display”. She confirmed that there are no other plans for a stand alone Theatre Museum under consideration.

Blackpool Council spokesperson Barbara Aird added: “It is too early to speculate on the outcome of the partnership with the V&A. Bringing national and international exhibitions and cultural events to Blackpool is a key factor in the regeneration of the town - currently Blackpool is hosting the V&A’s hugely successful Story of the Supremes exhibition and it is the only venue in the north-west to do so, and the first in the UK outside of London.

“Blackpool will continue to work with DCMS and the cultural agencies on delivering cultural projects & programmes as part of the transformation of Blackpool.”

Meanwhile, chair of urban regeneration company ReBlackpool Sir Howard Bernstein has called for a review of the resort’s masterplan, which will aim to outline investment priorities in the town.

The masterplan was created by the Blackpool Task Force following the resort’s failed super-casino bid, which the council had hoped would restore it as an entertainment-led tourist destination.