Team at Washington's North East Land, Sea and Air Museum dismayed at provisional May 17 reopening under covid roadmap
The man at the helm of a much-loved museum has spoken of his disappointment at having to stay closed for another three months at least, claiming the Government’s ‘cautious’ plans to lift covid restrictions ‘lack logic’.
Under the plans set out by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on February 22, museums will have to wait until at least May 17 to reopen.
David Charles, chairman of the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum (NELSAM), said the team had hoped to get the site open in April, alongside non-essential retail.
Under the Government’s plans, retail, leisure, hair and beauty and outdoor hospitality can reopen on April 12, if conditions allow.
But museums have been included in the same wave as indoor hospitality and entertainment, which cannot open until May 17.
Mr Charles criticised the government’s approach.
“There’s no logic to it. Why do museums need to stay shut when libraries and non essential retail can open in April? I can’t understand it,” he said.
"Museums have a lot less footfall than retail and we have all the covid safety procedures in place. It’s very frustrating and we’re really disappointed.
"We seriously expected April 12 would be the date we’d be reopening. We’re happy we are going to be open in May but feel let down when you look at everything else that is comparable to us.
“We are managing at the minute, in part thanks to the Chancellor’s business grants and furlough scheme, which is one thing the Government has got right.
"It does help now having a date to work toward, hopefully we’ll be able to get a limited amount of volunteers back to get things ready before reopening, as long we stick to all the regulations.”
David said volunteers are raring to go to get the museum back up and running, and have missed supporting the attraction during lockdown.
While being forced to close, David said the NELSAM team has used the time to carry out general repair and maintenance work around the museum, making sure everything is ready for customers to return when it is safe to do so.
Located on the former RAF Usworth and Sunderland airport site, the North East Land, Sea and Air Museums boasts a stunning array of aircraft and vehicles.