River & Rowing Museum Set For 6 Month Closure to Safeguard its Future

The River & Rowing Museum will be closing for a minimum of six months from later this year in order to carry out important repair work.

The 25-year-old building requires urgent repairs to its roof, which is leaking, but the museum has outlined a longer period of renovation to bring facilities in line with modern standards.

The work forms an important part of the organisation’s commitment to provide a museum and gallery in the town of Henley-on-Thames.

There will be no staff redundancies during the closure with members of the museum’s curatorial and operational team continuing to work behind the scenes. Their work will include continuing to improve the documentation and processes that maintain the collections and developing a refreshed education provision.

Since its opening in 1998, the River & Rowing Museum has received over two million visitors and 200,000 school children.

David Worthington, Chair of Trustees said:  “Since the River & Rowing Museum opened its doors almost 25 years ago, there have been few upgrades to the building. Many of the systems, fabrics and finishes were designed to last for 25 years so we’ve reached a point where attention is urgently needed. We cannot understate the responsibility we have to protect the building and our collection for current and future generations.”