Sarawak Museum closes its door to visitors from Oct 23 till early 2020 to allow for conservation works
The grand old lady once regarded as the finest museum in South East Asia in dire need of refurbishment.
KUCHING: The old Sarawak Museum will be temporarily closed to the public from Oct 23 for a period of two and a half years until early 2020 to pave way for Phase II of the Sarawak Museum campus and heritage trail project.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the historic and gazetted museum building, which was built in 1891 by Sir Charles Brooke on the recommendation of Alfred Russel Wallace, was in urgent need of physical conservation and rewiring and upgrading of mechanical and electrical (M&E) services.
“The Sarawak Museum Department (SMD) through its Phase II of the Sarawak Museum campus and heritage trail project at a cost of RM38 million has requested the temporary closure of the old Sarawak Museum due to the much needed conservation of the building and century old artefacts.
“So the Sarawak Museum will be closed to the public from this Oct 23 onwards for a period of two and a half years till early 2020,” the Chief Minister told a press conference at his office at 22nd floor Wisma Bapa Malaysia, Petra Jaya, here yesterday.
Abang Johari assured that the originality of the building would be preserved, stressing: “The building is an important historical site for tourists and has historical value”.
He added that Sarawak Museum had made plans for the removal of all movable artefacts, specimens and authentic showcases from the old museum to a temporary location for safekeeping and conservation.
“Due to the nature of the works on the building, all artefacts and specimens should be removed out from the old Sarawak Museum before the conservation works on the building start…the department (MSD) is the custodian for the museum collections and the heritage of Sarawak thus cannot leave that in the hands of a contractor,” the Chief Minister stressed.
He asserted that leaving the artefacts inside the building during the conservation works could not be considered as such action would put the items at risk of degradation, damage or theft.
Abang Johari (second left) addressing the press conference with from left Ipoi, Lee and Ik Pahon.
The Chief Minister also said the government was considering charging entrance fees for visitors to the museum.
“We are considering that (charging entrance fees), but it will be minimal…in other parts of the world, if you visit the museum, you will have to pay,” he pointed out.
On the number of visitors to the museum, Abang Johari said it had dropped lately to 400,000 from between 600,000 and 800,000 in previous years.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak Museum campus project is a state government funded project to revive the international status of the museum and develop engaging exhibition galleries for the newly built complex.
Among others, the project is also to establish a world-class museum campus and restore its status as one of the best museums in the region, to showcase Sarawak’s rich cultural and historical heritage and provide educational and new experience visitor facilities, and to become an internationally recognised Sarawak Heritage Conservation Centre for research into Sarawak’s heritage with conservation laboratories, collection storage facilities, research and museum staff offices, library and the museum archive.
At the conference were Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin, permanent secretary to Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datu Ik Pahon Joyik and Museum director Ipoi Datan.