The Mechanics' Institute in 1877 was found to be inadequate and inconvenient, and in 1878 a new building was made on the Yewdale road. This in its turn was outgrown, and in 1896 the committee, under the presidency of Dr. Kendall, resolved to enlarge it. A library and reading room, billiard and recreation rooms, room for meetings and classes, bath, museum, concert hall and caretaker's house were planned, and built in 1897 with the proceeds of various exhibitions and bazaars, added to private subscriptions. This enlarged Institute or village clubhouse was opened by Mrs. Arthur Severn on April 15th, 1896.
In 1900 an exhibition of drawings by the late Prof. Ruskin was held, and visited by over 10,000 people. From the proceeds of this a room for a museum was added, to supersede the little room formerly allotted for the purpose; and the Ruskin Museum was opened in August, 1901, Canon Rawnsley giving the inaugural address. The collection shown in the Museum is confined under two headings--"Ruskin" and "Coniston." It comprises (_a_) local history and antiquities, with a few illustrative specimens of general antiquities; (_b_) local minerals, to which it is hoped some day to add other branches of the natural history of Coniston: of this division Mr. Ruskin laid the foundation by his gift in 1884 of a collection of minerals and the model of the neighbourhood; (_c_) Ruskin drawings and relics, given or lent by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Severn; (_d_) books by and about Ruskin, with autographs, etc., in illustration; (_e_) engravings after Ruskin's drawings, and portraits of him; (_f_) copies and prints from pictures which have formed the subject of his writing. The collection is still growing, and an enlarged edition of the Catalogue (3d.) was brought out at Easter, 1906; copies can be had of the caretaker at the Institute. The Museum is open every week-day from 10 till dusk, admission one penny in the slot of the turnstile. Eight to ten thousand pennies have been taken yearly since the opening. The hon. curator is Mr. Herbert Bownass.
In the summer an exhibition, usually of pictures, is held during August and September in the large hall adjoining. Since the new Museum was built, the room formerly occupied by the collections has been used as a Ladies' Reading Room; and in 1905 a workshop for wood carving and other art crafts was added to the premises. The subscription to the Institute for residents over 16 years of age is 1s. 3d. a quarter; for boys, 9d.; for visitors 1s. a week, or 2s. 6d. a month. The management is in the hands of a committee elected by the members, non-sectarian and non-political; Dr. Kendall has been president since 1884, and Mr. Edmund Todd hon. secretary since 1902.