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→History: subsequent purchase of freehold
At opening, public access was restricted to the ground floor. Over that winter and into 1991, work took place to eradicate dry rot from the building, investigation having revealed that thirteen of the 24 main carrier beams were badly affected. Opening the upper floor also required installing a completely enclosed staircase at one end and an external fire escape at the other to meet fire regulations. During 1991 the Museum also took possession of the cattle dock at the Bewdley end of the building and began restoration work on it.<ref name=SVR99/>
The Kidderminster site including the museum building was initially rented from BR. In November 1993 the SVR learned that the British Railways Property Board was planning on selling the Kidderminster site at auction the following month as a single lot. The SVR and Kidderminster Railway Museum both felt that it was better to acquire the freehold at that stage rather than continue to lease from a new landlord. After negotiation, BRPB accepted an offer from the SVR of £450,000 for the site, with a contract for resale of part to the Museum for £80,000 being signed at the same time.<ref>SVR News 109, David Mellor, Boardroom Notes</ref>
By 2000, work was required to refurbish the roof which was leaking badly in many places. On 23 May 2001 the Heritage Lottery Fund agreed to meet 75% of the project costs (see below).<ref>SVR News 136</ref> The rest of the year was spent in negotiations with the Lottery Fund on the conditions to be met, with the work not beginning until 2002. At some time around the late 1940s, the outside canopies on the front of the building had been removed and a trap door with an electric hoist put in the upper floor on the station side. The upper loading doors which were no longer needed were subsequently bricked up giving the building a rather plain external appearance. The eventual plans for the museum roof included rebuilding the canopies in their original form and restoring the upper floor openings on the station side of the building.<ref>SVR News 138</ref>
