We The Curious fire ‘caused by bird’ - as attraction’s boss talks damage and reopening

Donna Speed, chief executive of We the Curious, explains how the attraction is reponding to the devastating fire and how it is looking to the future
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Staff and insurance teams are fighting to get We The Curious back open to the public as soon as possible after a devastating fire broke out in the building on April 9, in the middle of the Easter break.

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Having started on the roof in the solar panels, chief executive Donna Speed said it is now thought from the evidence and insurers that a panel ‘was damaged by a stone or similar, which has been caused by a bird’.

And she told BristolWorld she was grateful that the fire was spotted so quickly. “We were lucky that the police had a drone in the area so they actually spotted the smoke immediately,” she said.

“They came straight to site, as well as telling the fire brigade, before smoke was even in the building or had triggered the alarm. It was shortly after 2 pm that we evacuated the building, and the fire brigade doused it with lots and lots of water.

“That really has limited the extent of damage to the roof, but unfortunately we have a lot of water damage which is what we are dealing with now. We have a fantastic contracts team that will get us open as soon as possible, but we really don’t know when that will be at this point.”

The fire began in one of the centre’s solar panels but luckily most of the damage is water damageThe fire began in one of the centre’s solar panels but luckily most of the damage is water damage
The fire began in one of the centre’s solar panels but luckily most of the damage is water damage
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We the Curious is being surveyed at the moment to really understand the extent of the damage, outside of the fire damage to the roof. The water damage has gone all the way down to the ground floor so the team are trying to ascertain how long it will take to repair the building systems.

For the staff and management at the museum, though, they are incredibly grateful that the extent of the damage isn’t as bad as they perhaps initially feared. Instead, the damage is mostly within the building system.

What they are even more grateful for, is that the fire doesn’t appear to have damaged any of the exhibitions within the building. Importantly, it doesn’t seem to have caused any damage to the brand new exhibition space, opened only last year.

One of the biggest reliefs is that Project What If seems to have remained undamagedOne of the biggest reliefs is that Project What If seems to have remained undamaged
One of the biggest reliefs is that Project What If seems to have remained undamaged

“Going from the venue hire space through to the staff kitchens and offices then down to the cafe is where the main route of the water came,” Ms Speed said

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“So we are really relieved that the exhibition space, thank goodness, is largely unharmed. We’ve got a new exhibition on the ground floor called Project What If and that was a £6million project, so we were really nervous that our exhibits had been damaged.

“We don’t know for sure because we don’t have power to the building to test all of that yet, but it looks unharmed. The exhibition is so unique and created with our visitors and community, so not something that you could buy off the shelf.”

For Ms Speed, this is a huge silver lining to the devastating events.  “Our exhibitions appear unharmed and no one was hurt, so we are incredibly grateful and those silver linings are very clear,” she said. “Everything else, we’ll just work through.”

In terms of working through, what does the future look like for We the Curious? “We’re going to be okay, and we are going to make sure that we are back open as soon as possible despite not knowing how soon that will be yet,” said Ms Speed.

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“As an educational charity that has been on a fairly bumpy ride over Covid-19, this is significant for us, but I feel confident that we will continue and that we will be here for future generations.”

The exhibitions being saved is a huge silver lining for We the CuriousThe exhibitions being saved is a huge silver lining for We the Curious
The exhibitions being saved is a huge silver lining for We the Curious

Ms Speed said that one of the things that gives her confidence in getting back open again is the public support. “We’ve had so many well wishes, which makes such a difference,” she says.

“There is a Just Giving page that has been circulating for while we are navigating all of this. It is really helpful and really supports us.”

Despite being humbled by the emergency services and the supportive messages sent across from the public, closing for Easter comes as a huge blow for the museum, particularly after Covid-19.

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“We had limited our capacity through Covid-19 to put everyone first, so we have been working to fairly limited capacity until the first day of Easter which is of course when we had the fire,” Ms Speed said.

“We were up to capacity and really looking forward to getting back to normal and having a key recovery year starting from April so it’s quite a setback from the point of view.”

So, what could the people of Bristol do to support We the Curious and help to get it back on its feet as soon as possible?

“When we went into our first lockdown, we lost our Twitter account and lost 20,000 followers when we needed to speak to everybody. So also just sharing and liking, as people think they are following us when they’re not, is helpful,” says Ms Speed.

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“We want to be there for our community, updating them and informing them. Basically, get involved, go to the Just Giving if you can and like and share our news and page.”

The team at We the Curious would like people to share and follow after losing 20,000 followers due to an account deletionThe team at We the Curious would like people to share and follow after losing 20,000 followers due to an account deletion
The team at We the Curious would like people to share and follow after losing 20,000 followers due to an account deletion

The team at We the Curious are hoping to put on some extra events later in the year and adapt to the new events once they are open, in order to make up for lost time. “We’re looking at all those options but waiting for the survey to come in first,” said Ms Speed.

“We’ll look to see what we can do to celebrate being reopen, and we’ll be looking at this over the next couple of days.”

Ms Speed is keen to get a big thank you out to the public and the emergency response teams across Bristol. “I’d like to give a heartfelt thank you to everybody with their best wishes and support,” she says.

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“Our visitors are being incredibly patient, our staff, trustees and volunteers are being phenomenal as usual. It’s a time of crisis when you see how supported you are and how much of the community you’re embedded in.

“It’s been really humbling - it’s a difficult time for us but it energises us on those next steps as we know we have the whole of Bristol behind us.”

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