East Coulee School Museum is shutting its doors come winter after struggling through the spring and summer to find ways to repair their broken boiler.
The difficult decision was made at the most recent meeting of the East Coulee Museum board two weeks ago. Those involved with the School Museum had been working since the boiler broke down to find grants and do fundraising to allow the school to stay open during the winter with little success.
“What we’re looking at now is finding matching grants. We’ve looked at a couple facility enhancement programs on provincial levels and some other, more creative ways to get things fixed, even a historic building renovation show. Because of the time of year and where fundraising is at, which is low, we’re shutting down after Thanksgiving. We’ll be closed for the winter and will open again in the spring,” said School Museum manager Owen Thompson.
The winter closure may also affect whether any special events are held during the winter.
“There is some opportunity to have special events in there. the Christmas event may not run again, but we could have crafts and such in the community hall,” said Thompson.
An Evening at Fanny’s went ahead in February of this year after the boiler had broken. Kerosene heaters were brought in for the event. Thompson was optimistic Fanny’s would go ahead again.
East Coulee School Manager Owen Thompson stands next to the broken boiler.
The boiler, which runs on coal, broke down in early February of this year.
The more worrisome consequence of the closure, for Thompson, is how the low temperatures will affect the building.
“For a building like that, with the objects that are in there, getting cold for an extended period of time is not good. The fact that building is going to hit -20 celsius for a month or more is really going to affect the foundation. It probably hasn’t hit low temperatures like that ever. There are already cracks in the foundation, for example, lateral cracks running the length of the building. They’ll only get worse,” said Thompson.
Thompson was confident the collection would survive the cold quite easily. Some more delicate objects will be removed and housed in heated buildings for the winter.
“Most of the items will be okay, most of the collection is hardy. Some of the ones that will be affected most will be stored elsewhere. For example, we have an 1878 piano coming soon and it’s going to go into temporary storage with some other items,” said Thompson.
For the immediate future fundraising efforts will continue as will research into avenues for grant funding. The time will also be used for finding the right heating solution for the building.
It is hoped a new heating system will be installed next summer, allowing the museum to remain open year round.
