WA Museum says visitors will not be impacted when Perth based closes for redevelopment

The WA Museum has defended a decision to close the doors of its Perth building for four years during refurbishments, saying it will not impact on its ability to display exhibitions elsewhere.

The museum will close its doors from mid-2016 as work begins on creating a new facility on the same site.

The project includes refurbishing heritage buildings in the Perth Cultural Centre and the Welshpool Collections and Research Centre.

WA Museum Chief Executive Alec Coles said it would endeavour to deliver exhibitions to visitors through other sites it operates, as well as pop-up displays in and around Perth's CBD.

Coles told the ABC "we have got two sites in Fremantle - the Maritime Museum and Shipwrecks Gallery, which will be working full on. We have got regional sites in Kalgoorlie, Albany and Geraldton

"We will work across (the State) with a range of partners, and it is our intention to maintain a presence in the cultural centre."

Western Australian Arts Minister John Day said while unfortunate, the closure was necessary to properly refurbish the site, stating "sometimes you have got to go through a bit of pain to get enormous gain.

"It would have been sub-optimal in relation to integrating this develop with the heritage buildings and refurbishing them, so the advice we have had [is that] this is the most appropriate way to get a good outcome."

However, Minister Day conceded that some museum staff would lose their jobs during the construction phase.

He added "those on fixed-term contracts may not be continued for some of that time, but there are discussions going on with some of the staff, both formal and informal.

"Some of the staff will be involved in preparing for what will be going into the new building ... but this is all necessary."

Early works for the new museum project are already under way including conservation works to heritage buildings at the Perth site, where the new museum will be located, as well as the refurbishment and upgrade of the museum's Welshpool Collections and Research Centre.

The new museum for WA is due to open in 2020.

For more information go to www.museum.wa.gov.au/new-museum

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