When it comes to city museums, there is a “clear misalignment between the community’s service expectations and the corporation’s capacity to fulfill them.”
This, according to a report by city Strategic Initiatives, Communications and Citizen Services Director Ian Wood, which city council is slated to discuss on Nov. 30.
The report is the latest step in a museums revitalization process city council kicked off during 2022 budget deliberations earlier this year, for which a draft plan has already been completed.
The city is also seeking the public’s feedback on this plan, and has requested residents to give feedback by Dec. 16. For more information on public consultation, click here.
In Wood’s report, it’s noted that the city’s operation of four museums have remained relatively unchanged since the 2001 amalgamation that created the City of Greater Sudbury. The four museum sites include Anderson Farm Museum in Lively, the Copper Cliff Museum, the Flour Mill Museum and the Rayside-Balfour Museum in Azilda.
Museums have evolved since that time, and there are new best practices the city’s existing facilities are unable to achieve, Wood said, also noting the city’s museums have always operated without a “generally accepted service level or overarching co-ordinated strategy.”
As an example of this, Wood’s report estimates that approximately five per cent of the artifacts at city museums have the curatorial and legal documentation required for community museums, which falls well below the 60-65 per cent average among 20 comparator museums in the province.
The museums have approximately 10,000 artifacts and an additional 12,500 photographs and an unknown number of inventoried slides and negatives.
Despite minimal investment since 2001, Wood notes that approximately $2 million has been spent on facility capital renewal during the past decade, including the Flour Mill Museum relocation, and that various upgrades are still needed to meet accessibility, climate control and other requirements.
Overall, approximately $2.5 million is expected to be required for capital improvements by 2028 to “preserve the integrity of the heritage buildings as artifacts themselves, as well as archaeological resources present on the property.” A $467,000 project will be considered in next year’s capital budget to ensure the barn and stable buildings at Anderson Farm can be reopened for public access.
It’s also recommended that the city create a Museums Advisory Panel to meet the requirements of the Ontario Heritage Act. The group is expected to advise city council on how to achieve their vision for city museums.
The city’s current museum services consists of one full-time position — museum curator Sam Morel — and summer students. Wood’s report recommends the hiring of two additional full-time positions, including a non-union co-ordinator and an assistant curator to help allow the museums to “deliver an appropriate level of service,” for a net cost of $168,579.
According to Wood’s report, the current staff complement is “not adequate to provide a full range of programming at four museum sites.”
City museums have been largely closed for the duration of the pandemic, and the Flour Mill Museum has been closed since 2017. Anderson Farm Museum averaged 17,558 visitors per year for the five years leading up to 2019, while the Copper Cliff Museum averaged 421. There is no estimate for the Rayside-Balfour Museum in Azilda, which operates out of a room in the Azilda library. Prior to 2017, the Flour Mill Museum averaged 215 visitors per year.
Although the Northern Ontario Railway Museum and Historical Centre in Capreol receives municipal funding and leases part of its facilities from the city, it is operated by the not-for-profit organization and will not be included in the proposed overhaul.
This is a difficult budget year to seek an increase in museums spending, with city administration currently aiming to cut $17.7 million in net costs to hit a proposed tax increase of 3.7 per cent.
According to Wood’s report, “Should an increased investment not take place for 2023, staff will work to adjust service levels to match available resources; prioritizing services that have previously demonstrated the most public interest and community value.”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
