Manchester Jewish Museum will reopen on July 2 after a £6 million redesign and extension.

Making the announcement this week, the museum said the reopening would coincide with the Manchester International Festival, of which it will be part.

The two-year redevelopment, part funded by a National Lottery grant, has transformed the Cheetham Hill premises. Features include a gallery, café, shop and learning studio and kitchen, plus the restoration of its former Sephardi synagogue, which is Grade II* listed and dates back to 1874.

It houses some 31,000 eclectic objects ranging from letters and photos to a Russian washboard used as a cricket bat, a suppository mould and a ceremonial trowel from 1857. Many will be displayed for first time in the new gallery.

Museum CEO Max Dunbar said that “after years of planning, fundraising and consultations, plus a global pandemic to navigate through, we cannot believe we are finally here.

“We really feel we have something special to share with everyone. Our magnificently restored synagogue is a rare gem and is in itself a living artefact, telling the story of Jewish migration from the 1870s.”

It was reopening “at a time when a museum designed to bring people together is needed more than ever”.