Members of our museum community write often about inclusion and of the ‘new town square’, which they wish museums to become. This chapter, entitled ‘Threshold fear’, contends that there are both physical and programmatic barriers that make it difficult for the uninitiated to experience the museum. The term ‘threshold fear’ was once relegated to the field of psychology but is now used in a broader context to mean the constraints people feel that prevent them from participating in activities meant for them.3 To lower these perceived impediments, the fear-inducing stimulus must be reduced or dissolved. There has been little discussion within the museum field about the aspects of museum spaces that are intentionally welcoming and help to build community. There has been, in fact, a disjuncture between museums’ programmatic interest in inclusion and the architectural programme of space development – a gap that this chapter tries to redress.