A large gathering of protesters young and old rallied against the closure of the Railway Coastal Museum in St. John’s on Saturday afternoon.
Last week Mayor Danny Breen said the city is listening to the public’s concerns regarding the closure. However, protesters don’t feel their voices are being heard.
Six-year-old Marifé says she doesn’t want to see the main floor of the museum disappear.
Others say this is the gold standard of what a museum should look like. Especially since this museum is one of the only historic sites that is accessible to all.
National director for the CN Pensioners in Newfoundland, Wayne Greenland says the history is unique to the province and it needs to be preserved.
Greenland says the CN Pensioners were not consulted prior to the closure. They were dismissed from their volunteer duties two years ago.
He used to sit on the Railway Museum Board and says when the Johnson Foundation turned over the museum to the city they made a new board, and he was not on it.
Self-professed Newfoundland railway buff JP Coady says his concerns were not properly addressed by the Mayor.
Coady says the city has plans for the building but has not shared those plans with the public yet. He wants to know what these plans are, and wonders why the city has not shared them sooner.
