Last updated 19:45, Thursday, 17 July 2008

ALLERDALE council should hold on to its three museums, its executive recommended and that current arrangements for the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, the Helena Thompson Museum in Workington and Maryport Maritime Museum should continue.

The council will keep the Keswick museum under the trust and seek a partner for its long-term development. It is managed by an independent management committee until 2010.

It will invite the management company, KMAG Management Ltd and the North Pennines Heritage Trust, to submit proposals.

Allerdale’s legal officer will investigate Helena Thompson’s will, in which she left her Park End Road home and its contents to the people of Workington. The museum is being run by the Workington Heritage Group until 2009, and the executive agreed to extend this to 2010.

The meeting agreed that the ruined Workington Hall, in Workington’s Hall Park, should be kept safe until measures can be put in place to give it a sustainable future.

Members also agreed to leave a decision on the future of Maryport Maritime Museum, which it fully owns and which is operated by Maryport Festivals Ltd, until a later meeting.