Reopening of major Bristol visitor attraction hit by delay
The opening of a major Bristol visitor attraction has been delayed by several months.
Since the closure of the We The Curious site in Millennium Square as a result of the fire in April 2022 a major repair programme has been under way.
The repairs have been challenging and complex project, involving equipment and exhibits that are utterly unique to us and housed in a Grade II listed building.
The organisation has released a statement on the delay.
It said: “Our building reinstatement works are continuing at pace but, unfortunately, as a result of construction and supply chain delays, we’ve had to shift our initial reopening target of early 2024 back a little. This means that we’re now planning for a reopening of early summer 2024.
“We remain absolutely committed to reopening, but we’re being ultra cautious on naming exact dates until we have greater certainty, so that we don’t let anyone down. We hope to be in a position in the next few weeks to share a further update.
“It’s disappointing to have a few more months of closure ahead of us than we’d originally hoped and we know our audiences will be disappointed too. Nevertheless, we’re starting the year optimistically, with the repair work moving towards the final completion phase, our staff back working in the building, and new members of the team being recruited ready for reopening.
“Since the fire closure, we’ve completed a brilliant programme of free Out and About activities and school takeovers, with over 260 events more than 36,500 interactions with people across Bristol. We’re currently looking at whether we’ll be able to deliver some of our free school Takeover Days in February and March for schools with bookings that we’ve had to move and that meet our priority criteria, as well as other Out and About activities. After the Easter holidays, our teams will be pivoting to focus on reopening.”
The fire in April 2022 was an extremely rare occurrence with a 0.01% chance of it happening.
A solar panel damaged by birds triggered a fault in the electrical system, which then resulted in the fire.
Whilst all staff and visitors in the building were safely evacuated within minutes and the fire damage was contained to the roof and solar panels, it took thousands of litres of water to extinguish the fire, which caused significant damage.
