(R33) CRYSTAL PALACE CAMPAIGN - IMMEDIATE MEDIA RELEASE - 4 September 2000

The Crystal Palace Museum, which celebrates Joseph Paxton’s lost 19th century marvel, is facing closure by Bromley Council for up to a year. This shock proposal, for which there has been no prior consultation with the local community, is disclosed in council documents prepared for the Thursday (September 7) meeting of the Council’s Leisure & Community Services Committee.

The museum’s closure is being forced by the proposed construction in Crystal Palace Park of the giant cine and leisure multiplex, one of whose access roads is designed to be tunnelled under Anerley Hill, London SE, past the museum’s entrance.

As a substitute to the museum, which is a popular attraction to Sunday visitors, the council proposes a £150,000 temporary exhibition to mark the June 2001 150th anniversary of the first Crystal Palace. This would, according to the council document, include existing museum exhibits as well as new material designed to “gain “wider public appreciation and understanding…that the new [multiplex] building retains the same design tradition. The council also proposes refurbishing the museum and reopening it at a date and cost unspecified.

The only consultation undertaken by Bromley Council has been with the three-man Crystal Palace Museum Trust which administers the museum – a separate chairity from the Crystal Palace Foundation which since 1979 has been the guiding force behind the establishment of the museum in 1990.

Press Officer: Fred Emery 020 8761 0076 Mobile: 0794 117 2023
All correspondence to: Hon Secretary, 33 HogarthCourt, Fountain Drive, London SE19 1UY
Recorded Information: 020 8653 5995 E-mail: fred@syre.demon.co.uk
Website: www.crystal.dircon.co.uk

4 September 32000 Last updated 4 September 2000