A PRESSURE group battling to get Swindon’s civic museum reopened has welcomed an assurance by a council chief that its treasures will not be put into storage.

Swindon Council is preparing to make a significant announcement about its plans to replace the museum and art gallery in Bath Road, which it has controversially closed.

The authority kept the facility shut as the country emerged from lockdown, saying the building needs expensive repairs and other work to make it comply with disability laws.

This week cabinet member for culture and heritage Robert Jandy told the Adver that it would not be putting items into storage as it developed its plans.

Ultimately, it wants to see a new museum and art gallery built in the new Kimmerfields cultural quarter in the town centre.

In the meantime, there has been speculation that the council might use other civic buildings to display art and artefacts.

The Save our Museum and Art Gallery group said that until realistic funding for the long-term project was in place the collections must remain at least as accessible to the public as they are at the moment.

Spokeswoman Linda Kasmaty said: “While we welcome the council’s aspirations for a purpose-built museum and art gallery in a new cultural quarter, it’s clear that securing funding for any major construction and infrastructure project is going to be very challenging in the coming years.

“The time lapse between closing the current museum and art gallery and building a new cultural quarter could in reality be many years or perhaps even decades. We have been very concerned that many items that the people of Swindon could normally see in that space would have to be put into storage for all that time, so it’s very encouraging to hear the cabinet member responsible for this to say that nothing is going into storage.”

Nearly 3,200 people have so far signed a petition calling for the museum to reopen.