A NEW entrance, toilets, gates and work to improve views of the River Derwent are all part of plans to revamp the ground floor of Derby's historic Silk Mill.
And those behind the proposal say they will be asking the public to help make furniture and signs for the building.
The mill which, during the 18th century, became the home of the first factory system in the world, was mothballed in April 2011 to enable the city council to raise money for Derby's museums.
Derby Museums Trust, which took over the attraction in October last year, plans to reopen its ground floor, with selected artefacts on display, on the last weekend of October this year.
It has applied to Derby City Council for permission to improve the site before this takes place at a cost of £300,000, with the fitting out costing another £400,000.
Jonathan Wallis, assistant head of museums, said most of the cash was from the city council's capital funding programme "with a little bit extra from the Arts Council".
A document with the application says one part of the work will be to "create a sensitive but dramatic entrance to the mill".
It says this will have "the effect of visitors walking through one of the display boxes".
Mr Wallis said this would involve a see-through doorway in which artefacts would be placed.
He said the building's 1720s Bakewell Gates need considerable and costly restoration work so, to open up the space behind them for public events, gates would be built on either side.
The planning application says that new toilets would be created on the ground floor and a 1950s paint shed would be demolished to allow better views of the river from the mill building.
An internal wall would be removed to "open up a relatively dark area of the mill and create more flexible open space".
Mr Wallis said things such as tables, chairs, and signs for the reopening would be made in the Silk Mill by designers and engineers with the help of members of the public.
He said: "The work would transform the building. We are hoping to create a place that inspires the next generation of makers."
A decision is expected to be made by the council's planning committee by July 4 with the public able to make comments on the plans until June 19.
