Reimagining our Museum
‘SGS: New Beginnings’ is a multi-year project that aims to secure the Society’s future.
The first phase of the project, funded by an Arts Council England Museum Estate & Development Fund (MEND) grant, will see the Society’s 1911 museum on Broad Street repaired, refurbished, and fully redisplayed for the first time in over a century. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funds MEND which is administered by Arts Council England.
Works are currently underway, and the museum will reopen in spring 2027.
About the Project
We received the grant to repair Spalding Gentlemen’s Society’s Grade II listed museum building, which was originally built in 1911 and later extended in the 1950s and 1960s. Due to ageing construction methods and ground conditions, these later extensions were subsiding and placing strain on the original structure. Historic England identified the building as being at risk and recommended the removal of the rear extensions.
The project will address these issues, as well as delivering accessibility improvements and upgrades to mechanical and electrical services, to give us better environmental control and energy efficiency. These essential works will help secure the building’s future for generations to come.
Meanwhile, we are embarking on a Development Grant funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to work toward an expansion of the museum on the former Leverton’s/Business Centre site in Broad Street. Find out more about the second stage of ‘New Beginnings’ here.
Building Works
Our project builders, Messenger Construction Ltd, are currently working on the museum. The historic woodwork, fireplaces and other features have mostly been removed for secure storage. Taking plaster off the walls has revealed many faults and cracks, but the construction team are carefully stitching the walls back together with helical reinforcement bars and brickwork.
Now, 60 piles are being driven into the ground beneath the museum to stabilise the structure and help prevent it from moving again. This underpinning work follows the removal of the lower-level floors and nearly two months of internal repairs to brickwork and ceilings, with the addition of new structural supports.
Museum Reimagined
SGS is being supported by Art Fund, the national charity for museums and galleries, to carry out the first large-scale redisplay of its collections in more than a century. The ambitious ‘Museum Reimagined’ project will bring fresh and diverse perspectives to our museum, library and archives. A diverse team of young people, early-career heritage professionals, and community volunteers will collaborate on the first complete redisplay of the museum since 1911.
This project reflects our transformation and our ambitions for the future. Our internationally-significant collections are being investigated; new stories are being discovered and told; and new visitors and partners are encountering them for the first time. Like our founders, we have the opportunity to reimagine what a museum can be and do: and we’re excited to bring that reimagining into a reality.
