Staff at Armley Mills are working to keep the museum open after the building was hit by flooding during yesterday’s Storm Franklin.
A statement on the museum’s Facebook page said staff were ‘working to keep the site open for half-term’ and said the upper floors would remain open, but admitted large parts of the grounds will remain closed. The statement said:
“Due to significant recent flooding and high river levels your visit to Leeds Industrial Museum may look slightly different over the next few weeks.
“We are working to keep the site open for half term and beyond, and hope you can still visit us at Armley Mills.
“Lift access between floors is currently possible but we apologise if there are times that accessibility between floors is less than ideal.
“Large parts of our grounds will be closed, but the top floors of the museum will remain open to you and our planned family activities will still take place. Stay safe, and we hope to see you soon.”
It’s the first major flooding at the site since it was closed for several months due to Storm Eva on Boxing Day 2015.
A flood warning was issued last night on the River Aire in the Cardigan Fields area. High river levels led to a pontoon used to construct flood defences breaking free of its moorings in Kirkstall, destroying an old bridge leading to Armley Mills.