The City of St. John’s is addressing the growing outcry surrounding plans to close the Railway Coastal Museum.
The city says it is listening to the public’s concerns regarding the closure of the recognized heritage structure and the exhibits and artifacts it contains.
The city acquired the building from the federal government in 2001 to ensure that it would be maintained. Since that time, the city says it has played an integral role with respect to the use of the building and the museum.
The city says the building is not being sold and the decision to close the museum was not made lightly.
In a release issued today the city says the decision to close the museum is not a purely financial issue, it sees it as an opportunity to repurpose the building that it says is not being used to its full potential. Their goal is to repurpose the building in a way that respects its historical significance, while also providing “new opportunities for economic growth.”
They are currently reviewing options for the future display and preservation of the museum’s contents and the city says it is open to hearing from community groups and interested organizations before any final decisions are made.
Mayor Says Visitation in Decline
Mayor Danny Breen addressed some of the concerns surrounding the decision to close the museum at city hall earlier today.
In regards to the lack of consultation surrounding the facility’s closure, Breen explains the city had been trying for quite some time to turn things around, but the number of visitors to the facility had been steadily declining over the last number of years.
Breen says they engaged with tour groups and tried getting more schools to take field trips to the museum, and also looked and rental options for the space as well.
According to the Mayor, the city foresaw the numbers continuing to decline, saying the COVID situation added to those concerns, which is why they made the decision to close the museum.
Breen says the building will remain open until the end of January, and an announcement regarding the future use of the building will be made just before, or just after Christmas.
