The National Museum Cardiff may need to temporarily close to allow for redevelopment, according to officials.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said that Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales), which runs the historical city-centre site, is “considering the possibility” of temporary closure to allow for improvement works, according to the BBC. The museum, Wales’s national cultural institution, is one of seven sites run by Amgueddfa Cymru.
Amgueddfa Cymru said in an online statement that any planned decision to temporarily close the museum’s “will be subject to a full review and consultation”, adding: “With the museum approaching its centenary next year, we are looking at options for potential improvement and redevelopment to maintain and preserve the building and to enhance the experience for our visitors, ensuring it is fit for purpose for future generations.”
Meanwhile, Amgueddfa Cymru recently appointed a design team (AHR and C.F. Møller Architects) which the group said in a statement means that “enabling works needed for maintenance purposes” can now be carried out. This would, a statement continues, put the museum in the “best possible position to move forward with wider works should this be progressed in future”.
In a statement to the BBC, PCS said they were discussing “the impact on staff, the protection of collections and the future operation of the museum. Until those discussions have progressed further, it would be premature to speculate on the length of any closure or the implications for our members.” PCS was contacted for further comment.
Previous calls for funds
In 2024, the museum’s chief executive Jane Richardson said that the National Museum Cardiff could close if funding was not provided to repair the deteriorating building. Richardson told BBC Radio Wales: “Unless we’re able to secure more funding for that building, [we] will have to close… when you have water coming through and failing electrics, there is a question hanging over the future of that building anyway.”
Wales’s then culture secretary Lesley Griffiths said that the National Museum Cardiff would not close and that the Welsh government was looking at “specific funding [for the museum] over the next few years”.
In February 2025, “a mechanical issue” forced the museum to close for a few days.
For the 2024–25 financial year, the Welsh Government (Senedd) allocated £30.5m grant-in-aid to Amgueddfa Cymru, according to Audit Wales. This was supplemented in September 2024 by a £940,000 funding boost. In May last year, the Labour-run government announced £3m in additional funding for “urgent works” at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth and Amgueddfa Cymru, focused on National Museum Cardiff. This funding package was announced by the then Minister for Culture, Jack Sargeant.
In May, Plaid Cymru won the most seats in the Welsh Senedd elections but did not achieve a majority. In its manifesto, the Welsh nationalist party pledged a “new level of investment in art, culture and sport’ across Wales. The government was contacted about the future budget for Amgueddfa Cymru.
