A FULL architectural survey is to be carried out on Dartmouth's threatened Henley Museum.
The Anzac Street building is now 'totally unsuitable' as a home for William Henley's remarkable collection of Victoria artefacts.
A consultant's report has described the situation as 'dire'. Rot and damp are having a harmful effect on the exhibits, and this, coupled with the general state of the building, 'gives rise to a suspicion that the roof may not be in the best of condition'.
The consultant, Mr Alf Longhurst, suggests that the collection should be re-located – or a heavy investment made in the existing building.
The town council's Henley Museum advisory sub-committee discussed the problems last week.
In the light of the specialist's report, members are now recommending the council to commission an architect to carry out a full survey.
The architect will be asked to make necessary recommendations and identify approximate costs in order to bring the building up to a good state of repair.
Until the town council has the fullest information about the building, the way forward is uncertain. Footing the repair bill is the first option to consider. The alternatives are more extreme...put all the artefacts in 'mothballs'...close the place completely...or amalgamate it with the Butterwalk Museum on a new site.
Deputy mayor, Cllr Debbie Morris, who chairs the sub-committee, describes Henley's old home and the collection it houses as a 'little time capsule' of Dartmouth's past.
She added: 'We need to carry out a pricing exercise before we do any remedial work, so we are recommending the full council to engage a conservation architect to look at the whole building.'
Mrs Morris said there was no problem about re-opening the museum with volunteer help this summer – 'but we don't want to mothball the collection. The long-term aim would be to merge the two museums together.'
Town clerk Chris Horan added: 'Once the architect is brought in, we will get a clearer picture of what needs to be spent. But if it turns out to be a horrendous sum, the sub-committee might have to consider the future potential of the collection.
'Amalgamating both museums is another possibility, but we would need to find a new site.'
William Henley was born in Dartmouth in 1860 and died in the town in 1919. He ran an ironmongers' shop on the corner of Foss Street and Duke Street, and became an avid collector and amateur scientist.
As a 'self-taught sage', he displayed a phenomenal interest in the natural and scientific world and amassed a collection of 2,000 microscopic slides, as well as numerous prints, pictures, books, diaries, letters and artefacts.
After his death, his devoted younger sister established the collection in his name and it soon developed into a charming visitor attraction.