Plans revealed for 'radical transformation' of Preston Park Museum

The museum aims to bring top exhibitions to Teesside in a proposed extension with a large exhibition space and a visible store showcasing the museum’s collection. A larger car park and improved café and toilet facilities are also planned.

“I think it’s the biggest single exhibition space in the Tees Valley,” said Reuben Kench, Stockton Council’s director of community services, environment and culture. “We want to be able to create a unique contemporary space to rival the larger well-known museums nationally.

“That presents opportunities to do things which no one else is doing and you couldn’t otherwise enjoy. It’s 500sqm of environmentally controlled, temperature and humidity-controlled, secure space, able to accept the most precious and most vulnerable objects.”

From left, Reuben Kench, Stockton Council\'s director of community services, environment and culture; Sara Fortune, manager of Preston Park Museum; Councillor Steve Nelson, Stockton Council cabinet member for health, leisure and culture

He said the extended museum would bring exhibits of a scale, importance and quality never before seen on Teesside, aiming to attract more visitors to a fun and welcoming attraction. It would add to the tourism economy, bring jobs, raise the museum’s profile and gain national recognition for the town.

He said it would accommodate a bigger purpose-built store where visitors can see more of the museum’s collection, getting up close to artefacts or even handling them in workshops, as well as watching staff working on objects behind the scenes: “We’ve got hundreds of thousands of items which rarely see the light of day.

“We want to get more of that stuff out and visible. We want to bring the store into a space where the public can go.

“We want to demystify the issue of museum collections, make them more fun, more playful, more accessible, and to spark curiosity.

An image of what the Preston Park cafe might look like under new plans. Picture: Stockton Council.

“We’re not putting rope to keep people 6ft away from things. We’re not telling people to be careful and stand well back. Every message is going to be, this is for you to enjoy.”

He said the glass-fronted extension would be built in a less well-used “no man’s land” area of the grounds, linking to existing buildings without obscuring them or losing existing exhibitions, space or woodland.

A toilet block hit by vandalism will be demolished and the café extended with better toilet and changing facilities, and a car park will be doubled in size to improve traffic flow along with path, lighting, sign and landscaping improvements.

An image of what the new Preston Park extension might look like under new plans. Picture: Stockton Council.

It is hoped to revitalise a long-disused aviary with landscaping, seating and possible temporary exhibitions in a sensory or quiet space.

The major revamp will be funded with £12.4m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund, plus £237,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Charges to the public are yet to be finalised, with entry passes still to be offered for longer periods but “realistic” costs expected for some specific exhibitions.

Museum manager Sara Fortune said: “We’ve already been in conversation with the likes of the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum. To get works of art or objects that are only ever seen in London up in the Tees Valley would be absolutely amazing. A day trip, a weekend in London is unattainable for a lot of people. We should be bringing it here.”

Preston Park

A planning application will go in for the first phase – the extension, car park and main entrance – on July 5. If approved, work is expected to start this autumn and major works to be complete by spring 2025.

No decision has yet been made on the idea of charging in the car park, mooted in a previous council report.