Northampton museum will open 'by end of year' - with plans for a 'Covid-19 exhibition' as one of the earliest displays

One of the first exhibitions at an upcoming Northampton museum will be dedicated to the impact of Covid-19 on the town.

The borough council's flagship Northampton Museum & Art Gallery was due to open on June 20 after two years of renovations - but progress was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, the council plans to launch the £6.7m gallery in Guildhall Road before 'the end of the year'.

And, in a conference call on Friday (June 26), leader of the borough council Jonathan Nunn hinted that one of the earliest exhibitions being considered is a display on life in Northampton under the lockdown - with one of the pieces being the "gender-neutral sign" from Abington Park's toilet block.Councillor Nunn said: "The main contractor is effectively finished [and] our aim is to get it open by the end of the year.

"The architecture is stunning. It blends together beautifully the old museum and the Gaol Block. There is a lot more space to celebrate the town's past.

"There are thoughts at the moment for a Covid-19 exhibition - a coronavirus exhibition as it were - perhaps including the sign from our experiment from our gender-neutral toilets in Abington Park, which was an experiment that maybe did not quite work."

Earlier this month, the council opened the former ladies' loos in Abington Park and rebranded them as gender-neutral in line with Government advice, in an effort to only have one toilet to disinfect during the pandemic and to stop people "using the park and surrounding area as a public toilet".

However, visitors criticised the move and were concerned the toilets would put women at risk of "reduced privacy, sexual assault and voyeurism".

Alongside the Covid-19 display, another of the first exhibitions at the upcoming museum will be called "We Are Northampton", made up of the memories and stories of the town as contributed by its residents.

There will also a large display of the world-renowned Northampton Shoe collection in a purpose-built Shoe Gallery.

Other features at the museum will include a glazed atrium with a cafe, a permanent space to display and sell local artwork, and a "dramatic" 360-degree projection room.

Work at the Guildhall Road site began in September 2018. The borough council paid for the £6.7m project by selling its Egyptian Sekhemka statue for £16m in 2014, which at the time led to the council losing its accreditation status with Arts Council England.

In July, councillor Nunn said the council was "building bridges" to regain the status.