Council questions future of museum

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This article was published 01/02/2017 (3331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A few Brandon city councillors are questioning the need to continue funding Brandon General Museum and Archives, considering its low visitor numbers.

“I don’t know if we get enough bang for our buck out of this,” said Coun. Jeff Fawcett (Assiniboine), during the city’s budget deliberations. “I think we’re well served by a lot of our other museums and such.”

Ultimately, council voted to keep the museum in the budget for $80,000 this year. However, it was clear around the table that this might be the last year.

“Eighty thousand dollars is a lot of money to keep that place going,” said Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Rosser). “I think that this is the last year we do this, and I really hope that there’s planning to combine some of the museums … maybe finding another spot and maybe next year if that doesn’t happen, then we put everything in storage until that happens.”

The museum, located at 19 Ninth St. in the former Manitoba Telecom Service building, marked its fifth anniversary last summer. It has struggled to attract more traffic, and they are still working to expand its reach. There were approximately 1,200 visitors through the museum in 2015.

Mayor Rick Chrest said it was regretful to hear the discussion, as the BGMA board has been working hard to keep it viable.

“The uptake is just very disappointing,” Chrest said, adding he supports another year of funding, but would like a solution by 2018.

Coun. Jeff Harwood (University), a member of the BGMA board, said the committee is “acutely aware” of the issues.

“Space is a problem, accessibility is a problem, and they’re going to be looking at that,” Harwood said.

He also pointed out to his fellow councillors that the museum is a creation of the city and belongs to the city.

“If something happens that it doesn’t stay open and has to close, then the keys come back to the city, and the city will be responsible for everything that’s in the building,” he said.

The museum is home to the original council chamber furniture, as well as a permanent MTS exhibit, which showcases a number of vintage phones dating back to the early 1900s. The B.J. Hales Collection of Natural History is also on display. It was once housed at Brandon University, but had been boxed up and put in storage for many years.

“This collection has remained in Brandon because Brandon General Museum is in existence, as there was a move afoot to relocate the collection to another area of the province,” said Barb Andrew, chair of the BGMA board.

Other exhibits have included The Flats, which showcased Brandon’s north end; and Flags Over Brandon, which featured a display of numerous flags and banners that have been a part of the fabric of the history of the city.

“The current exhibit featuring prominent women in the history of our city have attracted visitors from near and far,” Andrew said.

She recently appeared before council, urging the city to continue supporting the fledgling organization.

“In spite of some of the obstacles that the board has encountered with location and accessibility, we feel that the first five years of operation has provided a great service to this community,” Andrew said. “One of the interesting things that we have observed is that even many lifelong residents have made discoveries about our city’s history of which they had no previous knowledge.”

Andrew said numerous local groups take advantage of the museum, such as Westman Immigrant Services, YMCA, BU and youth groups.

“Council’s financial support has enabled us to come this far in the last five years, and we expect its continuing support will enable us to better preserve and display Brandon’s history,” Andrew said.

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