News / We The Curious
Fire-struck We The Curious won’t reopen until 2023
Bosses of Bristol’s only dedicated science museum have said the venue won’t be open before January next year due to the extent of fire damage.
We The Curious has been closed since April when flames ripped through the Millennium Square building in a blaze thought to be caused by birds interfering with the photovoltaic solar panels on its roof triggering a fault in the electrical system.
In an announcement on Wednesday, bosses of the science museum said the extent of water damage from putting out the flames means the attraction won’t open to the public before January.
is needed now More than ever
While the central venue remains closed, they have plans to take its various science-based offerings on the road with activities due to take place at big festivals and small community events alike.
Bryony Roberts, head of programming for We The Curious, said: “Our teams have been super busy over the last few months; developing and delivering new activities that we can take out and about in the city, providing a bit of the We The Curious experience but just without our building.
“We’ve got a range of activities planned for large events and festivals, as well as smaller groups and community centres – they’re all super playful, with subjects ranging from aliens to flowers, pirate treasure to robots.
“We’re still firming up plans, but we do know that we’ll be at lots of children’s centres across the city, Windmill Hill City Farm, Bristol Beacon’s HooHaa festival and Hannah Moore summer fete – with more to be confirmed soon.”
The devastating blaze was thought to be caused by birds interfering with the photovoltaic solar panels on its roof triggering a fault in the electrical system – photo: Martin Booth
In a statement about the fire damage, the We The Curious team said: “The water damage is quite extensive, and crucially, it’s in our building systems – this means that we need to replace our heating and cooling systems.
“We’re committed to becoming carbon net zero by 2030, so this work falls in line with our project pathway to reach that target and will significantly reduce our energy consumption once we reopen.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: First photos inside We The Curious after major fire
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