BGMA attendance up 15 to 20 per cent

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This article was published 22/10/2024 (392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon General Museum & Archives has increased its number of visitors by 15 to 20 per cent over the last year, city council heard at its Monday meeting.

That includes more than 80 recent visitors brought in by Westman Immigrant Services and around 75 Brandon School Division students, museum board chair Brent Chamberlain said during his annual progress update to council.

Some of that increase is a return of visits that took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Beyond the walls of the museum building, Chamberlain said they’ve hosted downtown history tours, pub events and more to have a presence in the community.

One of the biggest developments for the museum in the last year was taking over ownership of the B.J. Hales Natural History Collection.

Hales was the first principal of the Brandon Normal School and an avowed naturalist who also served on Brandon City Council between 1920 and 1923.

The collection of taxidermied animals, which Chamberlain called irreplaceable, used to be owned by the Brandon School Division but was exhibited in the museum.

The BSD transferred ownership earlier this year with a couple of conditions. If the museum closes or dissolves as an entity, the division has the option of reclaiming ownership. Also, BSD students and teachers must be provided free admission to the museum.

Chamberlain also outlined a new five-year strategic plan for the museum for 2024 through 2029.

Goals set out in the plan include improving the museum’s autonomy and independence, fostering more active board sub-committees working on items like fundraising, expanding community outreach through digital initiatives and increasing the diversity of exhibits within the building.

Improving outreach is important, Chamberlain said, because he said its current location isn’t great for getting traffic. If the city’s proposed cultural hub redesign and renovation for the Library/Arts Building comes to fruition, the museum moving in there has been floated as a possibility.

“We’re fully bought in on that,” Chamberlain said of the cultural hub. “But that’s two, three, four years out.”

He said the museum would like to arrange stable funding so that it could move into the cultural hub on a good footing. To that end, Chamberlain said the museum would like to sign a memorandum of understanding with the city to create renewable, sustainable funding agreements in five-year intervals.

However, Chamberlain said the museum is also investigating other ways for it to increase its revenue and create a plan for growth that includes fundraising initiatives.

Currently, the museum is looking for volunteers to serve on its board of directors, help run events and assist in digitizing the museum’s collection.

Mayor Jeff Fawcett was the only member of council not present at Monday’s meeting. Coun. Glen Parker (Ward 9) chaired the meeting as deputy mayor.

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