Brighton Museum & Art Gallery gets £1.5m for urgent repairs

A museum and art gallery in Brighton is to receive £1.5m which it says will allow it to stay open and plan ahead "with confidence".

The Brighton Museum & Art Gallery is a Grade II* listed Georgian building on the landmark Royal Pavilion Estate.

It is one of 63 organisations to benefit from a £48m government fund delivered by the Arts Council.

The Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust said the grant would allow it to make urgent repairs to its roof.

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson said the funding was for "treasured cultural institutions up and down the country" and would help them to "continue their great work".

The Brighton Museum and Art Gallery is on the landmark Royal Pavilion Estate near Brighton seafront

Arts Council England chief executive officer, Darren Henley, said the £48m from the government's Cultural Investment Fund would help people "lead happier, more creative lives".

RPMT chief executive officer, Hedley Swain, said: "We are so grateful. It will allow us to make urgent and timely repairs to the roof of Brighton Museum and Art gallery allowing us to stay open and plan with confidence for the future.

"Brighton Museum is an important historic building, part of the Royal Pavilion estate. It's so important that buildings like this are maintained for the benefit of current and future generations".

The trust said a 2019 survey found the roof of the museum needed urgent repairs to a Georgian glass lantern above its central main gallery.

It said many of the lantern's structural elements needed replacement and reglazing "to ensure the safety of the galleries, exhibits, staff and visitors beneath".

Additional funding will be provided by Brighton & Hove City Council, with repairs expected to take around four months, starting later this year.