Opening up a £6.5million Aberdeen museum centre on Saturdays could help improve poor visitor numbers, an MP claimed last night.
The Aberdeen Treasure Hub on Granitehill Road, Northfield was created to house the local authority’s collection of around 200,000 artworks and artefacts while they are not on display in the city’s museums and galleries.
Public access was claimed buy the city council to be a “key” part of the development, which opened in November.
But in its first eight months, the centre attracted just more than 800 visitors – with only three people touring the facility for the entire month of January.
The centre is currently open to the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but Aberdeen North MP Kirsty Blackman believes weekend opening would allow more people to enjoy the extensive collection of historic and contemporary treasures.
She is seeking to meet the management of the centre to discuss her proposals.
Mrs Blackman said: “I’m disappointed that times to visit are so limited, and it seems obvious to me that opening the Treasure Hub up on a Saturday would allow far more people to get to it on their day off.
“The city council say that visitors are welcome to drop in two days a week, but that seems to contradict their own website which says Thursday is only for group bookings and any tours on a Wednesday have to be pre-booked.
“All other week days are by appointment only.
“It is unfair on communities across Aberdeen that the city’s artwork and opportunities to view it should be limited in this way.”
Last week, the council announced plans to attract more people to the facility later this month with a family fun day, and throughout the rest of the coming months as part of its “Say Hello to Summer” promotional campaign.
An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said: “While the Aberdeen Treasure Hub is first and foremost a safe and secure repository for the city’s collections when not on display we have always been keen to allow manageable public access.
“We want to ensure that the people of Aberdeen see their treasures whilst balancing that with our operational requirements, which the current access arrangements reflect.
“We continue to embrace new events and opportunities at the Aberdeen Treasure Hub and look forward to the public engagement evolving in the weeks, months and years ahead.”