Cardiff’s National Museum in need of £46m for urgent repairs, says Amgueddfa Cymru chief executive

Ella Groves, ICNN Senedd Reporter

Cultural services have faced “underinvestment for decades”, according to the person in charge of Wales’ museums – with Cardiff’s National Museum needing tens of millions of pounds for immediate repairs.

Giving evidence to the Senedd’s culture committee, Amgueddfa Cymru chief executive Jane Richardson said it was “absolutely essential” that museums were funded to deliver core services.

Amgueddfa Cymru is the Welsh Government sponsored body charged with looking after seven museums, including the National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans, and Big Pit.

Speaking at the organisation’s annual scrutiny session, held on Monday October 19, Ms Richardson said: “We are tasked with looking after the national collection of Wales and delivering fundamental public services for Wales.

“And it is very easy to give funding with additional asks or parameters around new policies,etc, but, if you’re not careful, so much of the funding ends up following new policy ideas that you end up with nothing to maintain the core offer.”

She told committee members that while people often think of Amgueddfa Cymru as solely cultural, it makes significant contributions economically, such as in education.

Failing building

Ms Richardson said the National Museum Cardiff was a  “completely and totally failing” building which would inevitably have to close its doors.

It is deteriorating faster than it can be repaired, she disclosed, with £46 million of critical works required.

She said: “This calendar year alone, we have had ten incidents of leaks/floods. The latest was over the weekend we’ve just had – yesterday (October 18).

“We are regularly in a position where we’re trying to work out whether we can open the next day because of those issues. It is a complex building.

“There are more than 50 roofs. So, when you say, ‘Can’t you just fix the roof?’, you’re kind of like, ‘Which one?’

“The plumbing is all embedded in the walls, so we can’t get to the pipes while the building is open. The whole building is completely and totally failing. You can see next door just how bad things have been at City Hall, you can see the scaffolding on the magistrates’ court.”

She revealed it would cost around £66m, and two years of planning, to bring the building up to a standard where it is fit to operate in the future.

Amgueddfa Cymru plans to submit a business case to the Welsh Government next autumn to secure funding, though there is currently no money in place for the extensive project.

However, Ms Richardson warned that closure was unavoidable, regardless of the funding bid.

“That building cannot remain operating,” she said. “It is closing itself.”

Responding to a question from Plaid Cymru MS Nick Carter about whether the site would shut completely or in phases, Ms Richardson said it was not possible to keep the building open indefinitely.

She added: “The closure is a question of when, not if, and we want to be able to do that in a planned way, and we want it to be temporary.”

The museum’s board is expected to discuss four scenarios regarding potential closure dates in December.

Private sector philanthropy

The subject of private philanthropy was brought up by Welsh Conservative MS Paul Davies, who asked how Amgueddfa Cymru compared with leading international museums.

Ms Richardson admitted funding from the private sector in Wales was limited, although organisations such as People’s Postcode Lottery had made contributions.

She said: “While we are investing in individual and philanthropic giving, there is a limited pool that we are fishing in.”

Regular conversations are being had with “high net worth individuals”, but Ms Richardson stressed it was difficult to secure funding from Wales’ private sector.

She explained: “We can’t change the economy that we work within or the tax incentive structures that we work within.

“It needs that really joined-up conversation between governments, at a national and local level, which links with tax benefits, with economic incentives and a whole ecosystem that would support a more philanthropic mindset in Wales.”

Exhibitions

Museums under Amgueddfa Cymru are free to access for the public, although charges are made for some exhibitions – something welcomed by Reform MS Louise Emery.

Describing charging as a “very challenging debate”, Ms Richardson stressed that “everybody agrees” that entry to the sites should be free.

She told members that, due to increasing financial pressures, they believe they should be able to charge for any activities that offer “added value beyond entrance”.

This would include tours, talks, bespoke experiences, and behind the scenes experiences.

Ms Richardson also explained there is a mix of three charging tiers for exhibitions. These are a set charge, a ‘pay what you can’, and free.

Chair of Amgueddfa Cymru, Kate Eden, said a recent exhibition on the Welsh artist Gwen John would not have been possible without charging entry.

She said: “It was a modest entry fee, if you look at the comparison with some of the London institutions. For an exhibition of that quality, size and scale, with the quality of the original research that informed the staging of that exhibition, charging was absolutely necessary.”

Ms Eden said there was always a “range of concessions” available for charged exhibitions to ensure access “isn’t an issue”.

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