'Financial pressure and apprehension': Museums’ futures remain uncertain in Shelburne County

While it may have seemed like business as usual this past summer at the two Shelburne County museums that were closed by the province in the spring as part of the downsizing of the Nova Scotia Museum family, it was anything but.

Jobs were lost, hours of operation decreased, programming was reduced, and interpretation renewal plans were put on hold.

The Barrington Woolen Mill, operated by the Cape Sable Historical Society as part of the Barrington Museum Complex, and the Ross-Thomson House & Store, operated by the Shelburne Historical Society as part of the Shelburne’s Museums by the Sea complex, were two of the 12 museums closed by the province earlier this year.

Six of the 12, however, were offered a lifeline through the Community Museum Assistance Program (CMAP) that provided reduced funding for operations.

“There was financial pressure and apprehension this year because of significant budget cuts at all three of our museums, not just the Ross-Thomson,” said Suzanne Mahaney, manager of Shelburne’s Museums by the Sea.

“The challenge was to operate the museum with reduced funding this year, and we did. The frustration was that, with the reduced funding, we were not able to carry out any repairs to the interior of the museum or refresh the interpretation and exhibits. And we were not able to carry out any summer programming activities in the yard.”

The decrease in funding also had a staffing impact, with the loss of one heritage interpreter at the museum.

“The remaining heritage interpreter did a great job – considering she greeted over 2,000 visitors – but it also meant she didn’t have time for any extras like programming,” said Mahaney. “Unfortunately, the interpretation renewal initiative at Ross-Thomson has been put on hold until the future of the museum is determined by the province.”

The story is similar in nearby Barrington.

“We lost funding we would use to hire one to two permanent seasonal staff members, and it affected the loss of one year-round staff member that would have handled retail responsibilities as well as management responsibilities,” said Sam Crowell, executive director of the Barrington Museum Complex.

“We had one permanent seasonal staff member at the mill. The rest were students. We were fortunate enough this year to have achieved a number of approved student subsidies through various organizations that enabled us to hire enough staff to get us through,” Crowell said.

“We had a very heavy load of programming we offered, to the point of exhaustion almost to achieve the revenue targets that we wanted with programing, along with things that we make at the mill, like dyed wool that sell typically as fast as we can make them,” Crowell added. “We started with a lot of new staff this year and lesser staff. That created a bit of an issue getting people trained and comfortable in their roles. We were still consistently busy so we still had to manage our main objective, which is visitors, and still try and fit in all the programming to serve the communities and visitors as well as supplying the gift shop.”

The number of visitors to the Shelburne’s Museums by the Sea complex was “way up this year, bringing in much needed revenue through admissions and the gift shop,” said Mahaney. “And we are very grateful for the tremendous local support we received through the relocation of the (visitor information centre) to the Shelburne County Museum, municipal funding, memberships, community participation, gift shop purchases, and generous donations.”

In Barrington, the number of visitors to the museum complex this past summer was consistent with last year, despite being closed two days a week instead of one.

“Last year was a banner year. My information suggests if we had been open the same number of days as last year, we would have seen a climb, which would have translated into more admission revenue, programming revenue, retail revenue. So it was a loss that way and it created frustrations with people travelling,” said Crowell. “They were typically expecting us to be open Monday to Saturday, at the very least.”

However, people understood changes were needed to work within its budget.

“We were amazed by the amount of engagement and outrage by the community,” Crowell said. “They rallied, they spoke out, they shared, they joined membership-wise from all over the province. They were outraged at the province’s actions with regards to this.”

But the engagement didn’t really see a return in volunteer offers to help out, said Crowell.

“We extended an appeal looking for volunteers – heritage interpreters, programming, what-not, and we didn’t find that to be a viable option to continue to fill in,” Crowell said. “For example, in June we had two staff members and it was busy. It was difficult. We were hoping to augment some of that staffing at the mill to just help with the visitors, but we didn’t really see that. We did have a lot of awareness created. People who came out to some of the open houses that were held, wrote petitions, signed petitions to keep it open, membership … quadrupled, so it was encouraging that way.”

What the future holds for both museums is uncertain at this point.

“There are ongoing conversations with the province about the future of the Ross-Thomson. Although we are hopeful that the museum will remain open, ultimately, the province will be making that final decision,” said Mahaney. “There are many other factors beyond the provincial funding that also affect the sustainability of the Ross-Thomson going forward.”

Crowell, who is vice-president of the Association of Nova Scotia Museums, said while there’s been no word from the province about future plans, there “have been some suggestions that we have an updated agreement coming from them that will define our responsibilities, our roles.”

“I understand it is a five-year agreement that can be terminated at any point by either party, but we are really unsure if there’s going to be consistency with the reduced CMAP grant that they gave to these six sites, if it will continue or not,” said Crowell. “It was barely manageable with the amount we were given, let alone if they reduce it further or eliminate it entirely.”

Crowell is working on an impact assessment to present to the province.

“In general, a $1 investment in museums translates into over $4 in revenue for the province,” she said.

“The impact assessment will show what the Barrington Museum Complex means to our communities and the province. It makes a difference here in our immediate community. It supports the community. The money stays here. It supports our businesses. It supports the people that we staff, the Nova Scotia Loyal program, the artisans, and makers. The assessment will show the province this is a worthy investment. This is not a loss. We will take the investment they make in us and return it four-fold.”

The closure of the 12 provincial museums reduced annual operating costs by about $980,000.

“These changes to the Nova Scotia Museum system have put it on a more sustainable footing: annual operating costs are down about $980,000 and attendance is up about six per cent this year,” said Rob Maguire, director of communications for the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage.

“We considered several factors in deciding which sites to close, including attendance trends and changing visitor expectations. That process led us to close 12 sites that together accounted for about three per cent of all Nova Scotia Museum visits last year. While these sites are no longer part of the provincial museum system, we recognize many remain important to the communities around them. That’s why we’ve been working with local groups on what comes next for each one.”

Maguire said the province provided $300,000 in operational funding to the non-profit societies operating six of the museums: the Barrington Woolen Mill; Ross-Thomson House in Shelburne; Cossit House in Sydney; Perkins House in Liverpool; McCulloch House in Pictou; and North Hills Museum in Granville Ferry.

“Going forward, they may apply for operational funding through our Community Museum Assistance Program. We will also explore long-term arrangements for each property with the societies. For the other six sites, we will continue talking with interested community groups about different ways they could be used.”

The six former provincial museums that remain closed are the Wile Carding Mill in Bridgewater; the Lawrence House Museum in Maitland; the Shand House Museum in Windsor; the Prescott House Museum in Starrs Point; the Fisherman’s Life Museum in Jeddore; and the Sutherland Steam Mill in Denmark.