Apr
6
By Josie Bannerman
The Maritime Museum of BC is setting a new course – or is it?
The old courthouse building in Bastion Square has been home to the Museum since 1965. Last fall, after the building owner – the province – gave notice the Museum closed its doors to the public and started packing.
In September, the Museum signed a six-month option with the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority to negotiate a lease for the lower causeway level of the Steamship Terminal Building on the Inner Harbour. The Harbour Authority also put a hold on development plans for the adjacent water lot. The future looked bright.
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Clay Evans, Chair of the Board of the Maritime Museum of BC, a registered non-profit society said: "It is very frustrating as an institution that has successfully managed its own affairs for over 60 years to not be entirely in control of its own destiny. We need to show that the community cares about our future. Send the museum a letter expressing why you think our transition to a new home on Victoria's Inner Harbour is so important." MMBC |
On February 28, the lease option expired, and although all parties have agreed to continue discussions to March 31, no solution has been reached as the Beacon goes to press.
The problem is money. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure owns the Steamship Terminal. The Harbour Authority leases the building from the ministry and needs to have it fully tenanted to meet financial obligations. Acting CEO Rick Crosby is clear that the lease they sign with the Maritime Museum must allow the Harbour Authority to break even.
As a non-profit organization, the Museum’s funds are limited, especially now as a main source of revenue – admissions – has been cut off. Board Chair Clay Evans said: “The primary issues of contention relate to who is going to pay for the core tenant improvements for the space (it is essentially just a bare concrete shell) and how much will affordable rent be for the Museum.”
He said the two sides are very far apart on this issue. “For us, it’s not that complicated: it can only be what we can afford to pay and keep the core operating costs of the new museum self-sustaining over time,” Evans said.
Recently, the city of Victoria weighed in on the issue with Mayor Lisa Helps and Councillor Pamela Madoff meeting with minister Todd Stone to express support for the Museum. “We shared information with the minister, expressed the city’s interest in having a functioning Maritime Museum of BC in Victoria, and identified its value as a cultural institution,” said Madoff.
Evans says the Museum has been working with the provincial and federal governments, as well as private foundations to secure funding for the overall project, but without a long-term lease, nothing can be finalized.
“On the private funding side, we have very strong potential to raise significant corporate foundation funds that would cover the Museum’s responsibility for designing and developing new exhibits and programs,” said Evans. “We are optimistic that a long term lease can be negotiated.”
The GVHA is also hopeful. “The outcome remains contingent on how successful the Museum is in securing third party support to cover the lease and capital costs,” Rick Crosby said. “GVHA is trying to make this work, but the decision point will likely come in the next couple of weeks.”
The Maritime Museum is setting a new course, but we will have to wait to see which way it is going. If leasing space in the Steamship Terminal Building isn’t possible, Clay Evans said: “Plan B will be to re-group as a society and consider all alternatives.”