West Berks Museum on track for summer completion

The next stage of the £2.26m project is to fit interior floors, plaster walls and redecorate and install two lifts in the building, a spokeswoman for West Berkshire Council, Peta Stoddart-Crompton, said this week.
Repairs to the roof and walls have been carried out, as have improvements to drainage and electrical systems.
However, a date for the opening has not yet been confirmed, with Ms Stoddart-Crompton saying only that the museum would open its doors again in late summer.
While the restoration itself is nearing completion - on schedule and on budget according to the council - there is expected to be a 15-week period before the opening while the museum’s artefacts are unpacked, arranged and displayed within the building.
Funding for the restoration, which has seen the museum closed since October 2010, has come from local community groups and organisations, including £815,500 from West Berkshire Council, £100,000 from Greenham Common Trust, £40,000 from the Headley Trust and £1.2m from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Englefield Charitable Trust, the Sackler Trust and the Colefax Charitable Trust have also contributed financially via the Friends of West Berkshire Museum.
Ms Stoddart-Crompton said: “Everyone is working to ensure completion is as close to original schedule as possible.
“Work has begun on a new website where people will be able to search the collections and get information on the objects.
“Officers are working to ensure that the museum continues to offers quality activity programmes for everyone.”
She added that a formal opening event would be held in the autumn, with an unconfirmed VIP guest.