Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery is to start drawing up radical plans for its future thanks to £100,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The money, from the HLF’s “Resilient Heritage” grant scheme, is allowing the museum in Carlisle to launch Project Tullie – a programme of changes, innovations and improvements over the next 10 to 15 years.

Director Andrew Mackay says: “It is about providing a museum that is fit for the 21st century.”

The museum, which celebrated its 125th anniversary this month, will be working with architectural firm Carmody Groarke and business development consultants Counterculture to create a masterplan and blueprint for the future developments.

But Mr Mackay stressed that they will also be seeking the opinions of the public before anything is finalised.

He explained: “We don’t just want to impose something. We will be asking people what they want.”

The museum regularly attracts around 240,000 visitors every year, making it one of the city’s major tourist attractions, and is on course to exceed its usual total this year.

Mr Mackay added that all museums are under pressure to become more commercially minded and raise more of their own money, and attracting even more customers was going to form a vital part of that.

“We have to become more financially sustainable, and we feel that we can do that,” he said.

“We need to grow our income from admissions, catering and retail.”

No specific plans have been determined so far, but one likely change is to put more of the museum’s exhibits on public display. At the moment only around eight to nine per cent is on show.

Mr Mackay said most museums had similar proportions not always on display and pointed out: “They are still used by researchers and they are available digitally.

“But we want to put more out for general visitors, either with more gallery space or more dense displays in the existing galleries.

“Our research has shown that that’s what people like. They also like an eclectic mix, different things side by side.”

Speaking personally, he suggested more of the natural history collection could go on show. “Cumbria is the most biodiverse county in England. We’ve got every type of habitat here from coasts to mountains, rivers and estuaries, and I don’t think we shout about that enough.

“That’s more important now than ever with environmental change.”

He added: “Hadrian’s Wall is obviously important and we need to consider whether we could do be doing it better. It will be good for us to think about our unique selling points.”

Improvements to flow through the museum’s premises, making it easier to reach the old building from the central reception area, and better shop, restaurant and toilet facilities, are also among possible changes.

The Resilient Heritage grant pays for the masterplan rather than for the cost of any work, so other sources of funding would need to be sought to pay for it. They could include other lottery funds, foundations and the museum’s own fundraising.

Tullie House was officially opened to the public on November 8, 1893 and over the years has housed a library and schools of art, science and technology.

In 2011 it became an independent charitable trust, although Carlisle City Council still provide most of its money.

Amy Walker, head of Project Tullie, said: “’It is a really exciting time to be embarking on this project.

“The milestone of 125 years is very significant in helping us to consider how we have served the city in the past and how we develop for the future.

“For this development to be a success it is essential the people of Carlisle and local business are involved.”

The masterplan is likely to be finished by the summer. Work would then be completed in phases, and Mr Mackay said: “I would be hopeful that the first phase could begin towards the end of 2019.”

To register an interest in Project Tullie contact Damon Mahony via damon.mahony@tulliehouse.org