The Kilmartin Museum in Argyll, Scotland, has announced it is to reopen next month, Sunday 3 September 2023, after a major £7m refurbishment.
The museum, which explores the archaeological and natural heritage of Kilmartin Glen, ws closed in 2021 to begin the refurbishment, which was extended due to the pandemic.
Now set to open, the museum will reveal to visitors a major extension, designed by architects Reiach and Hall.
The extension has joined together its two existing buildings to create one large facility.
The facility boasts a larger exhibition space, and a new creative space which will be used to deliver and participate in cultural activities as well as allowing it to stage temporary exhibitions.
An accessible research and learning facility will allow it to safely curate all of its collections, and a fresh education space will allow it to develop its Active Learning and Volunteering Programme.
Argyll and Bute Council has supported the project led by the Kilmartin Museum Company with £400,000 of funding to help with the redevelopment, and accessed £275,000 from the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Scheme.
A number of the objects in the museum’s Prehistoric Collection were discovered or excavated at Neolithic and Bronze Age sites and monuments in Argyll’s Kilmartin Glen, nearby the museum site.
Some of its collection of 22,000 prehistoric artefacts, recognised as a Nationally Significant Collection in 2019, will be on display for the first time as the museum reopens.
Kilmartin Museum 50th addition to the Nationally Significant Collection in Scotland
