BARRHEAD - The Barrhead Centennial Museum building has seen better days, and the not-for-profit society deemed with its care is asking the county for financial help.
On March 4, Barrhead and District Historical Society president Kevin Van Derzyl and treasurer Henry Stel updated County of Barrhead councillors on the society's recent activities. They also asked the council to double the municipality's annual grant to the society to $10,000 to match the Town of Barrhead's yearly contribution and $20,000 to repair cracks they found in the outer walls and insulate the walls.
Council approved the delegation as information.
After the meeting, Stel noted that the society will also be asking Town of Barrhead council to double its annual contribution and share in the repair and insulation costs.
The duo said the new board had accomplished much in a relatively short time, in less than a year, updating the society's bylaws and coming a long way in a major renovation of the museum's display halls.
Unfortunately, they said one of the areas that still needs much improvement is the state of the society's finances.
"Our income is low," Stel said.
He added contributions to the society are down and that its fundraising efforts are effectively at "zero," saying that it is mainly relegated to gaming revenue as its next charitable casino date is a year to a year and a half away.
Stel said to help compensate for the shortfall, the society hopes to find potential government and private grant funding.
The society will also be asking local businesses to contribute.
But, he said that would take time as they are an entirely new board, less than a year in, and they are still getting up to speed, adding they only recently created a grant application subcommittee.
"We have a fairly high burn rate, going through our money relatively quickly," Stel said. "What really hurts us is our utility costs. Our last heating bill was over $700, which is especially hurtful given that our entire budget is between $40,000 and $50,000."
He added that the museum is also updating and expanding its exhibitions, which have further eaten into society's savings even though much of the materials and labour for the work they've completed so far have been donated by area businesses.
This summer, the board also anticipates that they will have to hire staff to operate the museum.
Stel said last year, the society attempted to run the museum in the summer months through volunteers, something they don't believe is sustainable in the long run, especially if the museum is to continue to also serve as the community's tourism information centre.
"If we want to run a museum, it must be run properly. To do that, we will require us to hire appropriate staffing," Stel said.
He added that the society also discovered when prepping to paint the museum's exterior that there were cracks in the concrete wall, allowing moisture to enter the building.
"It is an old building that needs a lot of work, and it is not insulated," he said, adding that the estimates for repairing the wall and insuring the wall are between $40,000 and $45,000, a bill the society hopes would be shared between the Barrhead municipalities.
Stel also asked that the county's annual contribution include a yearly inflation increase.
Van Derzyl said other regional municipalities have a similar arrangement with their museums, referring to the Stony Plain and Parkland Pioneer Museum.
"[The Town of Stony Plain] contributes 60 per cent of their annual budget, and they have 10 buildings they maintain and have at least one full-time employee in the summer," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
