page_title: Beaney House of Art and Knowledge
section_title: Refurbishment
hierarchical_section_title: Beaney House of Art and Knowledge / History / Refurbishment
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Museum and Free Library in Canterbury, Kent, England. Known as the Beaney Institute.
context_page_description: The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge is the central museum, library and art gallery of the city of Canterbury, Kent, England. It is housed in a Grade II listed building. Until it closed for refurbishment in 2009, it was known as the Beaney Institute or the Royal Museum and Art Gallery. It reopened under its new name in September 2012. The building, museum and art gallery are owned and managed by Canterbury City Council; Kent County Council is the library authority. These authorities work in partnership with stakeholders and funders.
context_section_description: Together with the associated project to redevelop the Marlowe Theatre site, the Beaney's 2009–2012 refurbishment was intended to "transform that part of the city centre into a vibrant cultural quarter". Bidding started in 2003. The Heritage Lottery Fund granted the project £6.5 million for redevelopment of building and services to provide space, facilities, displays, an extension, disabled access, a glass lift and educational spaces. Extra space would permit display of those collections previously hidden from public view. The intention was also to extend the gallery and provide further galleries for exhibitions.
  Plans for the library included an enlarged space for books and for a children's library and local studies centre, with a space for teenagers. Local people including teachers were involved with planning. Canterbury City Council, Kent County Council, private sources and donations made up the project funding to £11.5 million, with the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) contributing £975,000. Planners were John Miller & Partners; architects were Sidell Gibson who oversaw restoration of Windsor Castle after the fire; interior designers are Casson Mann, who have devised a theme of "explorer points".
  From 30 January to 28 February 2009 the Museum held a Hungry for Heritage exhibition, supported by a £24,700 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, in which local young people created pictures of the soon-to-be-missed exhibits. These pictures were to be displayed in Canterbury cafes while the Beaney was closed. The building closed for refurbishment on 28 February 2009. By 8 June 2009 the two councils had cleared out all exhibits, partitions and office material from the building, exposing the colours of early decorations in the process. They had great difficulty in removing Sidney Cooper's huge Charlie the Bull from the stairwell. The project attracted some controversy. An archaeological dig by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust started on the site of the new extension in September 2009.
  During refurbishment the library's lending service continued temporarily at Ede's Garage, 35 Pound Lane. The stock at Pound Lane included books for adults, children and teenagers; computer facilities; DVDs, CDs, talking books and a reduced reference section. Baby Bounce and Rhyme and Story Time sessions for children continued, along with other community services. Part of the local studies library was accessible at the Cathedral Archives until 2012. On one day in May 2009 at the Dane John Gardens, Kent Libraries & Archives staged a Lark in the Park educational entertainment event to publicise the library's move from the Beaney to the Pound Lane location. The building reopened in 2012.
caption: Closeup view of the Beaney's Tudor Revival facade.
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