Save the Textile Conservation Centre

From the Wessex Scene Online

The Textile Conservation Centre (TCC) based at Winchester School of Art (WSA) is to close its doors in 2009, the University of Southampton has recently announced.

The decision will mean the loss of all jobs and courses across the centre, and has prompted one student to petition to the government to save it.

Internationally recognised as the leading institution in its field, the TCC specialises in textile conservation research, education and practice, and was originally located at Hampton Court Palace, London, before merging with the University in 1998.

However, after an extensive review of the TCC, the University has decided ‘with profound regret’ that due to financial losses, the centre will have to close. A University statement suggests that continuing to meet the Centre’s budget shortfall and to fund its new purpose-built facilities, “can no longer be justified.”

Efforts to find an external source of income to bridge the funding gap were not successful, and developing a new business plan was also not a viable solution. Transferring the centre to another University was suggested, but the ‘specific professional needs’ of the organisation could not be adequately met by any of the proposed institutions.

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