Key figures behind the reopening of Nottingham Castle say getting the venue back up and running in the space of 13 weeks has been a "tremendous undertaking." Launching a website and training around 60 new members of staff are among the major tasks that have had to be carried out ahead of the historic site's reopening on Monday (June 26).
Children from a Nottingham school will be led by Robin Hood through the gates of Nottingham Castle for its reopening ceremony, which will be attended by figures including the Sheriff of Nottingham. A one-off ticket price of £1 has been introduced for the first day of reopening, available to pre-book on a first-come, first-served basis.
The site had been run since 1878 by Nottingham City Council until 2018, when it closed for a £31 million transformation. Control was then handed over to the Nottingham Castle Trust in May 2019, with the venue reopening in the summer of 2021.
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After just over a year of operation, with issues including an alleged racist incident and complaints over ticket prices, the Trust went into liquidation last November. Nottingham City Council has been working since then on a plan for the future of the site and has decided to run it itself again.
Nigel Hawkins, the Head of Culture and Libraries at Nottingham City Council, says preparation work has included the recruitment of around 60 new staff and carrying out all the necessary induction and training with them. Preparing upcoming exhibitions, working on the new pricing structure and getting the domain name of the Nottingham Castle website back are also among the plethora of tasks that have been carried out.
Mr Hawkins said: "If you can imagine doing all that in 13 weeks, it's a major achievement by the museum and galleries team. We haven't had much time to take a breath if I'm honest."
There were also several maintenance tasks that needed doing given that Nottingham Castle has not been open to the public for months. These tasks have included sweeping away sand that had built up in the caves, re-aligning the venue's alarm systems and cutting back grass across its grounds.
Mr Hawkins said: "It's been on tick over, I think there's a difference between tick over and then really firing it all up. But there's nothing unusual.
"If you were there operating all day, every day, it probably wouldn't be as big when you have to come back to it after. There's been three or four months where it hasn't been daily."
Councillor Pavlos Kotsonis, the Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Planning at Nottingham City Council, agreed that getting the Castle ready had been a huge task. He said: "We made a promise to the Nottingham public in terms of bringing it back in June and that was a challenge for everybody.
"We had to think outside the box to deliver on it and we did. I'm really proud of that and not only that, it's also the fact that we have a much richer offer than was previously available."
A total of 48 full-time-equivalent roles have been created at Nottingham Castle, equating to around 60 new jobs. Mr Hawkins says the site received just under 700 applications for these roles, adding: "It was great to see people are so passionate and want to work at the Castle.
"There were a couple of roles that we did have to go back out for because they just didn't have the necessary skills for some of the managerial roles we're taking on. But I think it's a reflection of the pride that the city feels for the Castle, which is why I want to get it reopened and operating on a solid footing."
When Councillor Kotsonis was asked if the public could now have confidence in the long-term future of Nottingham Castle, he said: "Of course they can, the castle is run by a different operator now, we're the city of Nottingham and we're the museums service. We have a large portfolio of museums and we obviously employ different sets of parameters within our constitution on how we do things."
A new ticketing arrangement means adults who pay £12 once will be able to visit all year, with the price also including access to the Brewhouse Yard Cottages, Robin Hood Adventures and Rebellion Galleries. Children who are 15 years old and under will be able to go to the Castle for free, with the offer applying for up to three children per paying adult.
Two cave tours, Mortimer's Hole and King David's Dungeon, will be running at a cost of £5 per person whilst the new Land Train, which first launched last summer, will return at weekends and in the peak holiday season. A brand new exhibition to mark the 75th anniversary of Windrush Day will also be at the site, as well as several art pieces by Jemisha Maadhavji and Tim Fowler.
Despite reopening on a Monday outside of the summer holidays, Mr Hawkins said: "I think it's going to be incredibly busy. We wanted to open where we know we've got a bit more of a build-up to the peak season, which is when schools are off in July.
"This gives us that way to work into it. But [the £1 offer] has received lot of bookings so if they all turn up, it's going to be a very busy morning and we're very pleased with that.
"We're all aware it's a brand new operation. There will be elements that we thought through that we hope will work and if things don't, we've got a bit of time to evolve and change it."
Councillor Kotsonis added: "You can't take credit for everything because people have worked really hard on this. But it's been on my mind for quite a while now.
"When I picked up my position as a portfolio holder, I had to manage the end of the Trust, as well as the group that brought the Castle back. For me, it's a moment of great success in terms of getting everything back in place and it's a team effort."
