Cromwell Museum Trust chairwoman Edith McKay said refurbishment was planned over the next five to six years.
She said the museum was lacking some important Cromwell history.
``There's an imbalance of things.
``We miss out on the early pre-European history; [there is] nothing as far as Maori is concerned ... nothing that tells the more recent history of horticulture and viticulture,'' she said.
``It doesn't tell the story of the change that took place in Cromwell - it was good, it was bad, it was horrendous, depending on which side of the fence you were on and it took its toll on the residents,'' she said.
``There's no real telling of those stories in a satisfactory way,'' Mrs McKay said.
The trust had sought the help of Dunedin design company Studio 3 to help plan the refurbishment.
Mrs McKay said an exhibition beginning in late May supported by the Otago Motor Club called ``We Drove Here'' would provide a feel of what the refurbished museum would be like.
The exhibition showcased the social side of motoring.
It was first at Dunedin's Hocken Library from November 2015 to February 2016.
Mrs McKay said the Cromwell Museum would be the first museum to host the exhibition after the Hocken.
Mrs McKay gave a report on the museum's 2016-17 financial year to the Cromwell Community Board this week.
She said visitor numbers had increased from 5836 in 2015-16 to 8264 in 2016-17.
But she noticed the 2017-18 summer had been quieter than the previous year.
In January 2017 the museum had 2042 visitors and in January 2018 she estimated the museum had about 1600 visitors, a decline of about 20%.
But she hoped the motoring exhibition would boost numbers.
The museum would also hold winter talks on varying topics on Sunday afternoons between May and August, Mrs McKay said.
So far the museum had booked Otago Museum director Ian Griffin to talk about the night sky and historian Leslie Wong to talk about Chinese history.
More talks were to be announced.
