THE Museum of Dartmoor Life in Okehampton will close this weekend so work can begin on an exciting £600,000 refurbishment project.
The refurbishment is the largest since the museum first opened in 1981, with the planned re-opening set to take place in May next year.
Tomorrow (Friday) the museum in West Street will open its doors to give the people of Okehampton a last chance to enjoy a free visit in it's present form.
Trustees, staff and volunteers are inviting people to visit the museum between 10.30am-4.30pm and 6pm-8pm. The architects' drawings, model and design sketches for the refurbished museum will be on view.
Project co-ordinator Maurie Webber said arrangements were being made to relocate the museum's family history research department from November. The museum will finally close its doors for refurbishment to begin on Sunday.
The work, which has been made possible thanks to the securing of major grants, will include the installation of a lift, a new lighting and heating system, state of the art gallery and new research department with an extensive collection of documents, as well as links into other archives.
The reserve collection that people don't see at present will also be put on public display. For further information call 01837 52295 or log onto: http://www.museumofdartmoorlife.eclipse.co.uk">www.museumofdartmoorlife.eclipse.co.uk