THE chairman of Banbury Museum has revealed proposals for a £2-3m makeover which could see a new gallery installed by 2020.

Bob Langton hopes the Castle Quay establishment will see a revamp to its shop, the waterway gallery and an extension at the museum, featuring a new gallery for exhibitions.

It is hoped by Mr Langton that phase one, the revamp of the shop, will be finished by next year to feature new counters, display units and historic objects.

Within two to five years there will be a revamp of the waterway gallery that would enable it to be rented out for multi-purpose use.

In the same time-frame, a new two- to three-level gallery could be built to the rear of the building to host some of the country’s “finest” exhibitions.

Mr Langton added: “We will revamp the shop, galleries and extend the museum on the back on two or three levels to include a new gallery.

“It will be two to three years down the line at the latest and we are looking at £2m to £3m . We could bring some of the finest exhibitions to Banbury.”

To raise the required funds for the expansion, Mr Langton said he will need to devise a new fundraising strategy and has started that process by selecting three new trustees. Susan McCormack, the director of public engagement at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, freelance artist Alexandra Williams and local councillor Tony Ilott, who replaces Cllr George Reynolds, have been appointed but a fourth is now required.

Mr Langton added: “Mrs Williams will bring new talents and ideas to our trust board and we are delighted that she has agreed to join us.

“Councillor Ilott has business experience which will be most valuable. We decided it would be better run by local business people who each have a skill.

“We have lost a couple of trustees for various reasons and new trustees who have joined us have new skills.”

Mr Langford said that planning consultants have been hired to assess the proposal, which could be dependent on the success of phase one and two, before a meeting next month to finalise plans.

Museum director Simon Townsend said the appointments were made with the expansion in mind and were the perfect fit for the museum’s ambitions.

Mr Townsend added: “Banbury Museum has ambitious and exciting plans for the future, our prestigious new board appointments equip us well to realise our development ambitions.”

Mother-of-two Mrs Williams, from Banbury, said: “I am local and I have an artistic background. I think it is a great privilege to be asked.

“There are a lot of plans for the future and I think if you can get anyone interested in going to the museum and learning it is a great thing.”

Anyone interested in becoming the museum’s fourth new trustee should email simon.townsend@banburymuseum.org