A struggling museum remains ‘optimistic’ over its future, despite drawing in just a third of its required footfall since a massive redevelopment.

Dorset Museum and Art Gallery's executive director, Claire Dixon, has admitted that the museum is ‘at risk’ since its huge transformation with closure 'possible' within the next 12 to 18 months without numbers coming through the door.

The museum, on High West Street Dorchester, underwent a £16.4m renovation supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Dorset Council - as well as other funders and patrons.

The project development began back in 2015, with planning permission secured in 2017 and works were due to be completed in 2020.   

Delays to project completion due to Covid impacted the opening date, and the initial vision for the site's visitor growth could not have anticipated the change in economic climate that has, since then, been driven by the long impact of the pandemic, Brexit and cost of living crisis, on tourism. 

Now, the museum has four new permanent galleries, a special exhibitions gallery, collections centre, library, shop, and café.

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Despite receiving Cultural Revenue Support Grant from Dorset Council, the renovations have brought with them rising running costs, which are estimated at £1m a year.

Mrs Dixon said that the museum and gallery would have to triple its current footfall to meet those costs.

She said: “The museum was struggling before, and we had to look into a way to transform.

“As the economy recovers, we need people to know that we’re here. The museum costs more to run now than it ever did.

“We had to wait until 2019 for the building to start, and we re-opened in a time where tourism plummeted whilst running costs have skyrocketed.

“No footfall can only mean one thing really, we have a plan, and we need it to work,” she added.

Mrs Dixon said she is ‘optimistic’ about transforming fortunes of the museum and said that the recent grant of £150,000, spread over three years, will go into a digital marketing campaign to draw in a more diverse crowd with a £250,000 grant from the National Lottery Health Fund to be put to use into marketing, exhibition costs and a revamped website.

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She said: "Our new approach will better connect visitors with what they can see and experience and will be supported by high quality exhibitions and a programme of regular events and family activities.

"A new visual identity both online and onsite will better convey the quality and scale of the museum experience and communicate more clearly why you might want to visit, with something in our collections for everyone."

The museum holds over 4 million artefacts across five buildings, and they are also looking for a collections assistant in order to produce more exhibitions.

Mrs Dixon said: “We’re asset rich, but we’re not cash rich - we’ve invested in a new building and now we need an injection of cash actively to enable us to reach an audience that we need to survive.

“We are not secure if the right number of people don’t walk through the door within the next 12-18 months,” she added.

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Mrs Dixon was hugely proud of the museum’s commitment to being more of an active part in the wider community by offering a calm space for people upstairs, as well as a story space open all year round with an annual ticket giving people a chance to keep out of the cold.

The use of the Victorian Hall has also been ‘diversified’ to offer weddings, allowing the bride to down an aisle of Roman mosaic. The space is also now used for parties to give the site a boost.

The Dame Elisabeth Frink exhibition, which cost the museum £100k to install, has been a great example of drawing people in to keep them around for the rest of the art on display in the gallery according to Mrs Dixon, and the museum and gallery will be looking into doing projects like this in the future to bring in a wider crowd.  

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She said: “The museum is incredible and there is a lot you can’t see and it’s how we bring those stories out.  

“We don’t want a permanent gallery; it must always be in a state of flux and change- whilst we’re still working hard we are still at risk.

"Staff and volunteers are committed to working together to ensure Dorset Museum and Art Gallery is in a more sustainable position as a major Dorset visitor attraction.

"Our ambitious plans are underpinned by further support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and our important relationship with Dorset Council as well as the NPO funded Wessex Museums Partnership of which we are part," she added.