Planning application lodged to create multi million pound “Museum of Two Halves”

The ‘Museum of Two Halves’ project is now seeking formal planning permission for the Football Museum for Wales.

Wrexham County Borough Council’s Planning Committee will review plans to transform Wrexham County Borough Museum on Regent Street, into the new home for the Football Museum for Wales and a new museum for Wrexham.

The Welsh Government had recently announced they are “providing a further £5.45m” for the new Football Museum for Wales.​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The former County Buildings which currently house Wrexham Museum started life as the Depot for the Denbighshire Militia. It was designed in the Tudor gothic style by the younger Thomas Penson, architect, and surveyor, and was constructed in the local Cefn Mawr stone with steep Welsh slate roofs in 1857. In 1879 it was converted into the magistrates’ courts and police station and extended to house a second court in 1896. The police and the magistrates had vacated by 1977 and the buildings were taken over by the Aston College Art Department. The college vacated in 1995 and the buildings opened as the Wrexham Museum in 1996.

There are now two applications lodged, P/2023/0072 involving the proposed 2 storey extension to central courtyard, without any documents, and P/2023/0073 about listed building consent for proposed demolition of internal walls, installation of lift and gantry walkways, installation of new external windows and doors, repairs to stonework, alterations and extensions to roof.

The documents are on Wrexham Council’s Planning portal, a website that appears throttled at 16 KB/second something slightly obstructive if you wish to download the 42 megabytes of documents, a shame as the WrexhamMuseum_DAS files are incredibly detailed information not just for the buildings but contain wider history nuggets for the city.

The application points out essentially the use of the building remains unchanged. However, the proposals involve the delivery of two museum offers on one site: the new Wrexham Museum and the Football Museum for Wales. The application states, “Proposals will enhance the visitor offer and community benefit of the building and will include the creation of two new suites of galleries. As such the new museum will attract new audiences and ensure the continued viability of this landmark building.

Perhaps of of the most striking changes for visitors will be the “creation of a double-height atrium with a lift and stairwell in the centre of the building to ensure improved orientation and full access for all visitors to the first floor”, along with the landscaping of the museum forecourt and the conversion of the former exercise yard into additional gallery space.

The Special Exhibition Gallery has been almost doubled in size and can be used flexibly to accommodate large or modest exhibitions. The council seek to further develop the learning offer for schools and community groups, “This ambition requires the proposed learning and community suite be accessible for all. This facility would also aid in the long term business strategy for the museum as a hireable space, alongside the adjacent atrium and café area”

The museum will also improve the cafe operation by updating and extending the food preparation area, and through re-locating the café store nearer to the kitchen.

Ground Floor
• Entrance/ Reception
• Retail (Museum shop)
• Courtyard Café – café seating area, kitchen, store and
changing area
• Central courtyard (circulation hub, stairwell and lift)
• Learning and Community hub including materials and
furniture stores
• Visitor toilets and family room
• Special Exhibition Gallery
• Exhibition Prep (technician’s workshop) • Staff and volunteer room and WCs

First Floor
• Football Museum for Wales galleries
• Wrexham Museum galleries
• Circulation hub, gantries and lift
• Staff offices
• Visitor WCs and family room

The area to the west of the museum and adjacent to the cathedral is directly accessible from the Learning and Community Hub and it is proposed to create a wellbeing garden in this area. The Acton Dog sculpture will be relocated to “guard” the doorway into the Learning and Community Hub.

This application includes for external signage for the museum, to signal the building’s purpose to those passing. The application says the museum is currently working on the branding for the enhanced offer of the Wrexham and Welsh Football galleries and any signage will be provided in Welsh and English.

It is proposed to have a “slate monolith” on the fore court with an illuminated signage incorporated, and two non- illuminated signs, one on the east gable of the principal façade on Regent Street and one on the East elevation fronting St Mark’s Lane. Hopefully that will solve the issue of some people not knowing the museum is there, something that is documented as an ongoing issue dating back ‘at least twenty years’.

The documents have details from staff, down to the details of a plea for a non-white reception desk as ‘it looks dirty no matter how much we clean it!’. There is a a rare public insight to some council policies, for example comments on use of messages and pigeon holes, with staff effectively told ‘no one has a printer adjacent to their desk any more – WCBC policy to limit the number of printers and the amount of printing on economic and environmental grounds’ and that the council no longer has an internal courier system. Wrexham Council also have also apparently been aware of a trip hazards since 2011 affecting ‘numerous people’ and not resolved them.

Hopefully the outcome of the new project is more user friendly, as one comment notes front of house staff “have been dissatisfied with the design of the shop ever since it was handed over in 2011” as ‘form didn’t follow function’.

Similar comments are noted with hope that new designs are better than previous efforts, with the main doors to the museum having been improved but “still open outwards, meaning that visitors sometimes block their own entrance to the building if they are waiting outside before we open” – with one view on the access audit section ‘I await the invention of the perfect door for public access’.

Some immediate improvements needed for better disabled access are uncovered between now and when the build programme starts, with it noted, “…although we are very accessible, the doors into Gallary 2 and Archives could do with changing. They are heavy and having them propped open all day isn’t the perfect solution.”

Slightly unusually with a planning application there is a comment from a Lead Member on Wrexham Council, as it is an application from Wrexham Council. Lead Member for Community Safety and Partnerships, Cllr Paul Roberts, who said “This planning application is another important step forward on our journey towards creating a Football Museum for Wales here in Wrexham, alongside an enhanced museum for the county borough. I have been following closely the development of these plans, including the public consultation held in October and the ongoing involvement of statutory bodies such as Cadw. I would like to thank the Welsh Government for their support in enabling the ‘Museum of Two Halves’ project to reach this stage.”

Purcell (Architects, Heritage Consultants, and Masterplanners) have submitted the applications for planning and listed building consent, with Purcell Partner, Jane Roylance, said: “Purcell are delighted to have the opportunity to continue working with Wrexham Council, supporting HSD and the project sponsors to achieve their vision for a Football Museum for Wales and Wrexham Museum; an iconic building in the heart of historic Wrexham.”

As it is an application involving Wrexham Council effectively by the council it will go to planning committee at a later date, with the precedent if refused it would unlikely be appealed.