St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen says the city will hold consultations to determine what will happen to artifacts inside the Railway Coastal Museum once it closes at the end of January.
He told reporters at city hall on Thursday that consultations are being planned with groups expressing concerns, including the CN Pensioners Association and Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.
A city news release issued Thursday says the city is “reviewing several options for the future display and preservation of the museum’s contents.”
The city made the decision to close the museum while looking for savings during the 2021 budget process.
Breen said the annual net cost of the museum is $200,000, and that amount is expected to increase because visitor numbers have steadily declined over the past few years despite efforts to increase attendance through school groups, tour companies and event rentals.
“With the effect of COVID-19 and the decrease in the tourists which is not expected to come back until ‘23 or even ‘24, we felt that the future costs were ones that we needed to deal with now,” he said.
The city is looking at using technology to tell the story of the railway to a broader audience, Breen said.
Meanwhile, the city is getting requests from communities across the province to see if they can display some of the artifacts “because they, too, have a connection to the railway,” he said.
He remained mum on details about the new use of the building, but said the city is working with its partners and expects to make an announcement around Christmastime.
He wouldn’t comment on details of the new use of the building out of respect for the partners.
“This is not a purely financial issue. It is an opportunity to repurpose a building that is not being utilized to its full potential. Our goal is to repurpose it in a way that respects its historical significance, while also providing new opportunities for economic growth,” the city’s news release stated.
Breen said a new use for the building wasn’t put out to a request for proposals because the building isn’t being sold. He said it’s a change of use of an existing city building, and that’s something that’s strategic to the city.
Juanita Mercer reports on municipal politics in St. John’s.
