Dear Sir,
In response to Cllr. Neil Foster’s article on the DLI Museum, it is very obvious the elections are looming as he is trying damage limitation tactics. It is true Durham County Council DID close the DLI Museum and they closed it without public consultation, as well as filibustering by deliberately talking out the time to block debate – talking about Brussel sprouts! At the same time they would not hear a motion supporting the County’s TA’s, who were and still are, facing major pay cuts. The Trustees of the DLI Museum have not carried out their purpose very well either and should have let the public know what was going on. One Trustee was made Lieutenant of the County the day after the Museum closed. The DLI Museum had a footfall of approximately 38,000 people per annum, which apparently was not enough to keep it open. The Green Howards Museum in Richmond gets a footfall of 18,000 per annum and survives. We should also bear in mind, originally this building was designed as an Art Centre as well as a Museum, but unfortunately, this too was closed. Mr Foster failed to say the land the Museum stands on is in a prime location in Durham City. County Hall stands just above the Museum and is being demolished shortly, which will leave a massive amount of building land available. County Hall will be demolished, after DCC spend thousands on a new café. The Somme Exhibition which was first listed as a free event, was £7.50 per adult and £6.50 per child over 5 years of age. Apparently this turned out to be a bit of a flop, but seems to have been glossed over. That’s a lot of money, when you could get into the Museum and see the whole collection for £4.50. The Gala Theatre hosted an event, as well as other exhibitions at Palace Green, and the question must be asked – why could this not all take place at the Museum? The amount of advertising that has gone on over the last year promoting the DLI exhibitions is second to none.
The original Museum was hardly ever advertised – a lovely building set in great countryside. Mr Foster also mentions travelling exhibitions, but omits to say it is at a charge of £30 for an educator, who will visit a community venue with artefacts and give a talk which lasts an hour. There were educational facilities in the Museum so why could they not have been used? DCC stated the Museum was not fit for purpose and that it would cost too much to get it up to scratch. We looked at the survey, and there were no structural problems. The amount of money spent on cabinets alone, to display the medals at Palace Green was £75,000 at least and that’s without any monies spent in transporting and housing the items from the museum. This money should have been spent on the original Museum. The question should be asked why the DCC are in bed with the University on this matter? The University have the most expensive part of the collection (medals), why are they involved? Durham is a University City, Universities need land and guess where our DLI Museum stands. Seven Hills, “state of the art” storage facility, where thousands of pounds have been spent is the old Rothman’s Cigarette Factory, in the middle of an Industrial Estate. It is open only 10 hours a week and you have to book to see special items. What about those of us who do not know what we want to see? It is much more educational to view items displayed correctly in a real museum. Cllr. Foster is wrong. One DCC councillor when asked what about the ashes that are scattered all over the grounds of the DLI Museum, said “a few sods of grass” would be taken up to the Cathedral. The ashes of former DLI soldiers and their families aren’t just in one place at the beautiful grounds of the Museum, they are all over. What about them? Committee of The Faithful Durhams
