Museum too important to close
[attach]5181[/attach]Shuttering the historic Montgomery’s Inn will spell disaster for the local organizations that use the landmark museum as a community hub, says its citizen-led advocacy group.
The Montgomery’s INNovators have been rallying supporters to speak out and ensure the museum isn’t one of the casualties of the city’s impending budget slashing.
Back in September, during the city’s core service review, staff was asked to look into closing city-run historic museums with the lowest attendance numbers.
According to reports, closing four museums would save the city about $1 million.
Though there is no official word on which of those 10 museums are slated for closure, Montgomery’s Inn is rumoured to be on the list, along with Gibson House, Zion Schoolhouse and the Market Gallery.
INNovators’ chair, Janice Etter, says council should be taking consideration of the inn’s value not only as a historic landmark, but as a local community centre.
While the Inn, located at Islington Avenue and Dundas Street West, may be underperforming as a tourist attraction, it is used for a variety of purposes within the community, Etter says. She estimates about 50 groups use or rent space at the inn on a regular basis.
[attach]5182[/attach]“We don’t have a lot of community centres (in Etobicoke) and so for several years now we have been working hard to maximize the capacity of Montgomery’s Inn, to do as much as possible as a city facility,” she said. “We’re more than a museum.”
Local organizations and councillors use the facility for public meetings, and space is regularly rented for birthdays and weddings. A farmer’s market started there only last year, Etter notes. This year, the INNovators built an outdoor bake oven for baking bread at the market. The inn features a tea room and a library, among other spaces.
“On any given evening there could be up to three or four different things going on,” Etter said.
Local councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, who has hosted her own community meetings at the Inn, says the historic site should be taken over by an organization like Heritage Ontario if it’s to survive.
“We need to get this museum safely out of the city’s clutches,” Lindsay Luby said.
The councillor put forth a motion recommending the city explore other entrepreneurial options that could be offered at the museum.
“I’ve represented the area for 26 years, there’s no darn way I want to see this demolished or given to a developer.”
In an attempt to save the museums at risk, Ward 25 councillor Jaye Robinson has asked the city manager to look at the possibility of Heritage Toronto becoming a not-for-profit organization and take responsibility of the all municipal museums.
Freeing Heritage Toronto from under the city’s wing would enable the organization to secure more funding to keep the museums operating, Robinson said.
According to its website, Montgomery’s Inn was built in the 1830s for Thomas and Margaret Montgomery, who immigrated to Canada from Ireland. Surrounded by farmland, the Inn was a hotel and meeting place for the community, especially for the years between 1847 and 1859, when thousands of Irish immigrants moved to Canada to flee the potato famine and typhus epidemic.
The inn operated for about 25 years, closing after Margaret’s death. It has continued to operate as a museum with through revenue, municipal funding and a provincial operating grant.