A popular museum in Mapperley is set to close because of damage caused to the building over the winter.
The Haunted Museum on Woodborough Road, which is housed in the listed former Majestic Cinema building, was set to reopen when lockdown restrictions were relaxed, but plans were then put on hold when it became apparent building work would be needed to make the structure secure before reopening.
But owners now say that following initial investigations, the building is beyond repair and they will now be forced to leave.
In a post on their Facebook page they wrote: “We now have no alternative with a heavy heart to permanently close the doors to the general public.
“We are devastated but this is now totally out of our hands. We would like to thank everyone in Mapperley businesses and locals for the warm welcome you have given us over the years and also everyone that has visited locally and from the UK and abroad.
“This is not a goodbye. The Covid pandemic has hit businesses over the last year and has been hard but the pandemic has not been the reason for closing. We will update as soon as possible on the museum’s new home.”
The museum was opened back in 2018 by paranormal investigator Steve Wesson and wife Marie, who put their spooky collection of artefacts on display to the general public.
Included in the macabre collection was a morgue fridge from Denbigh Insane Asylum in Wales, a 400 year old skull belonging to someone who fell victim to the plague and Thomas – a doll made from a dead husband’s bed bandages in the 1970s.
The owners now hope to find a new building to house the collection in Nottingham.
Mr Wesson told Gedling Eye: “The old Majestic Cinema has been a amazing building for us and is such a shame we now can’t carry on there for many years to come
“We are now looking for available buildings in Nottingham so that we can reopen as soon as possible.”
