The eviction of the Leather Museum in Walsall is drawing closer. The British town council is continuing with the bureaucratic process to make structural changes to the building that houses the museum. This plan for it is to turn it into an educational center for Walsall College: the future of the museum is uncertain.
The eviction of the Leather Museum
Despite opposition, Walsall City Council appears determined to follow through with its decision, as it plans to relocate the Leather Museum, which opened in 1988, and use the building, a former 19th-century Victorian leather factory, for educational purposes for the Walsall Assisted Learning Centre. For now, protests to prevent the museum’s relocation have been to no avail. Last November, a petition was launched to keep the museum in its current location and open a public debate, which has so far gathered 3,300 signatures. Perhaps not enough for a city with a population of around 287,000.
The petition
The petition was launched by fashion designer Lauren Broxton, who had already led protests against the museum’s relocation in previous years. “We are talking about 400 years of history and a unique cultural identity that cannot be replicated elsewhere. I don’t regret a single minute spent on the campaign, however consuming it was”, said Broxton, reported the Museums and Heritage website.
No certainties
Another sore point is that the future of the museum is still uncertain: Walsall City Council has said that the leather museum’s exhibits will be “relocated” to another building in the city center. However, it hasn’t yet revealed exactly which building this will be, nor has it shared the timeframe for the move.
Photo from Walsall Council
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