Bolton Museum, Aquarium and Archive's museum gallery will close to the public on 4 January 2010 to undergo a £530,000 renovation, as part of a wider regional scheme to improve museums and galleries.

The impact of Samuel Crompton's Spinning Mule, which transformed the British cotton industry during the 19th century, will feature at the heart of a new permanent gallery at the museum in space currently occupied by the museum gallery. A temporary exhibition gallery, currently being used for the Open Art exhibition, is also set to close between January and July for storage purposes, although the Egyptology gallery, art gallery and Up Close gallery will remain open.

Central Library, the aquarium and history centre will also remain open during the 10-month project, which is being funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) with Renaissance North West. The renovation will form part of the North West's Raising the Game programme, which aims to raise the profile of six prominent museums and galleries across the region, as well as to attract more tourists to the area.

Three individual sections of the proposed new gallery will look at the industrialisation and impact of the Spinning Mule; subsequent developments in Bolton since the decline of the textile industry and the lives of local communities past and present. A new lift between the gallery's two storeys, new lighting and the renovation of display cabinets also form part of the scheme, as well as the restoration of the gallery's original parquet flooring.

Nick Brooks-Sykes, director of tourism at the NWDA, said: "Industrial heritage is one of the North West's unique assets, and Bolton Museum will be working with other regional museums to make the most of this Industrial Powerhouse story."