Fall in museum visitors due to Paradise works
BIRMINGHAM Museum and Art Gallery has been hit by a huge drop in visitor numbers due to the huge Paradise redevelopment on its doorstep.
Bosses at the free attraction in Chamberlain Square said they had lost more than 13,000 visitors a month.
The dramatic drop came to light in recent figures from Visit England.
They showed the art gallery had 909,935 visitors in 2015 – but that had plunged by 17.5 per cent to 750,779 in 2016. The fall equates to more than 13,000 fewer visitors a month or just over 3,000 a week.
BMAG bosses have blamed the Paradise redevelopment works.
Ellen McAdam, director of Birmingham Museums Trust, said: “Our visitor figures have been growing since we became a charity in 2012. We experienced a surge in 2015 of 30 per cent following the opening of the Staffordshire Hoard gallery.
“With the inevitable impact of the library demolition and construction of the Paradise development on footfall, we were prepared for figures to fall back because of the reduced access. Overall we are still very pleased with BMAG’s performance, and we’re now looking forward to the next stage in the Paradise redevelopment and the new pedestrian routes which will help to increase footfall.”
The £500 million Paradise redevelopment has affected many businesses in the city centre.
Mechu, a nightclub, bar and restaurant in nearby Summer Row, closed in March after struggling because of disruption from the roadworks. It was replaced by M Club.