...and city’s flagship museum is to be revamped in an effort to increase visitor numbers

A NEW cafe with outdoor seating is planned for the city’s flagship museum.

New Walk Museum, now called Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, is being lined up for a revamp which the city council hopes will help push up visitor numbers from an average of 200,000 a year to more than 300,000.

The attraction, which opened in 1849 as one of the UK’s first public museums, is in need of some modernisation and parts of it are underused, according to officials.

The cafe’s location within the main part of the buildings means it cannot open to customers when the rest of the museum is closed.

A cafe space with a conservatory and outside seating area at the front of the museum is planned.

This would include a new entrance from New Walk, the city council said.

The existing cafe space would be used to house a new gallery.

An entrance and exit would be created to a Leicester Stories community gallery, designed to reflect the city’s recent history, culture and communities, while elsewhere a number of stairs, lifts and ramps throughout would be upgraded to improve access and ease the flow of visitors around the galleries.

On the first floor, improvements would mainly focus on upgrading staff offices and toilets, which are to be relocated to create the new gallery spaces, repairing roof windows, and bringing lifts and stairs up to modern standards.

The city council has been asked how much the work would cost to carry out and when it might happen but has not yet had an answered.

Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “Leicester Museum and Art Gallery

is one of the city’s most popular attractions, and houses exhibitions and activities aimed at all ages. However, the current layout does limit how we can use it – some parts are underused, others need modernising and, in the case of the cafe area, could work far better if moved to a different part of the museum. “Incorporating the cafe and the new entrance from New Walk would mean the cafe could open beyond the museum’s opening hours, and the space it currently occupies would revert to being more gallery space.

“We also want to ensure we are doing our best in showcasing our natural history and art collections, and also helping to tell the story of the city through a new community gallery.”

The current layout does limit how we can use it – in the case of the cafe, it could work far better if moved City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby