The Drukkerijmuseum in Meppel will open its doors to the public again from 11 July. On June 1, it seemed to be finally over for the museum, but after discussions with the municipality of Meppel and the province, the board sees perspective again. “There is light in the tunnel again,” says Stein van Ittersum, chairman of the board.
The issue surrounding the Drukkerijmuseum has been dragging on for several months now. In April, the museum indicated that it would close its doors on June 1, but several parties stepped into the breach to keep the museum open. BBB and GroenLinks came up with the proposal from the province to provide a provincial subsidy and this was supported by the PvdA.
At the end of May, it was decided not to release an extra 35,000 euros from the province for the museum. The parties first wanted to wait for a discussion between the province, the municipality and the museum. On May 31, the board of the Meppeler museum decided to close its doors definitively a day later.
The story seemed to come to an end for the time being, until it came out last week that the research into the future of the Drukkerijmuseum is being paid for by the province and the municipality.
“As a show of goodwill, we as board have decided to reopen the museum,” says Van Ittersum. The museum will not receive extra money for the time being, but that will not be a problem in the short term. “We still have some reserves, which would allow us to open for another year. In addition, we had also reserved money for the independent investigation, but we no longer need to spend it.”
For the time being, this seems to have put an end to the impasse that had arisen around the museum. From next week, the museum will be open again from Tuesday to Friday between 13:00 and 17:00. “We also want to make the cultural heritage of Meppel accessible to the public again.”
In September, an independent research agency, which has a great deal of experience in researching museums, will start mapping out the (financial) situation of the museum. Van Ittersum knows the agency well, because two years ago they already wrote a draft report for the museum. “I have high hopes that it will be a good investigation.” The president of the museum expects to receive the results of the investigation by the end of the year.
With the summer holidays just around the corner, Van Ittersum expects many visitors to visit the museum. “Meppel is a meeting point in the region for tourists. Two years ago the number of visitors already increased considerably and we have also seen the numbers rise again since January.”
Moreover, the Drukkerijmuseum can also elaborate on the conclusions that the research bureau presented two years ago. “We want to update the museum and make it more attractive to the public.” Van Ittersum is thinking, among other things, of new, interactive exhibitions, such as the Van Gogh exhibition that was on display in the museum this year.
The museum has also received the necessary support from Meppel. “People in the Meppel business community are even working on setting up something for us, although this is still very premature,” says Van Ittersum.
Board and volunteers are obviously eager to get back to work in the museum. “The Drukkerijmuseum is really something typical of Meppel, which is why it is very good that we are opening again.”