A Question of History

Anonymous said:

Thank you Ev.for bringing The Cultural Center to the issues. I would like there to be a call for an external party to investigate the grant requests etc. and removal of Heritage from that building. Something just does not smell right and it is not the musty old building it was.
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The Culture Centre Board came to the last Council Meeting of Council on September 28th to make a progress report on their work since the Centre opened. They are a volunteer board appointed by Council and no doubt given terms of reference What we understood was going to happen from the Consultant who reported to us on what this arms-length board was going to accomplish and what eventually evolved bears little resemblance to each other. That's not at all likely to be the Board's fault.

In between ,we had an Ad Hoc Arts and Culture Committee to set things up. The resource person to the committee was the Curator expected to be in charge of the museum.I had understood the Committee was to create the Board and administrative structure. The Curator left but not before successfully applying and obtaining a $700.000. grant from Heritage Canada on behalf of a Heritage Building and Museum.So the museum project was definitely on course at that time.

The curator's place was taken by a friend and campaign organiser of the Mayor. After the Board's appointment, the name changed to Culture Centre. Maybe the curator's departure was the first sign of the course changing. The name change was the second. In time, at the opening, we noted no museum. A grande piano was conspicuous in the emptiness. At first the town appeared to be the only user for planning meetings and "charettes" and an employee Christmas Party.

I inquired if we were paying fees to the arm's length board of management. Didn't get a clear answer. Came the opening, the Chief Administrator was Master of Ceremonies.The mayor read the first speech written for her by the new manager of corporate communications. No mention of the museum. I started to wonder about the revenue to wean the facility from town financial support of half a million dollars including building maintenance.

The Consultant had put the objective at $100,000. less each year.I didn't believe that but when you are one among nine saying nay, it gets to be monotonous. I wasn't reading about revenue or admission charges to various events. A financial statement was to be submitted every quarter prior to funds being provided by the town. Council never saw a statement..

In July we heard about the pre-jazz festival black tie affair with an admission charge of $35. I called to inquire about the user fee . I learned it was considered a cultural event and the board's mission is to support and encourage cultural events. I learned a financial statement had been submitted in April. The board was working on their next statement and hoped to be able to make a presentation in September. I queried in Council when the museum would be back in its rightful place.

The Mayor looked toward the Treasurer and said the Board would be making a presentation soon.The Treasurer affirmed Still we waited. I called the new curator and learned she had not been able to obtain an understanding of a future for the museum. There was space in the basement for storage of the collection. Space to work at cataloguing the collection. And provision to mount a historical display several times a year. There would be no museum because museums don't make money.

I since learned the York Region Arts and Culture Association is renting space previously occupied by the museum. The building is designed as a museum. The Historical Society raised three-quarters of a million dollars from the community for the purpose. The Historical Society paid for the designs commissioned to create a state of the art museum in the Church Street School. $700ks grant was obtained for a museum. Funds provided from the town to complete the renovations at $2.3 million dollars were for the purpose of providing a museum home for the Town's Historical Collection gathered laboriously and lovingly with purchases and donations over the years, to be treated with suitable respect, for future generations of Auroran's to enjoy and learn from.

Despite all that, there is no museum. Instead ,there's a Culture Centre. Who decided that?

We were not asked if we favoured the transfer of resources from a museum to a culture centre. We were not asked if we were prepared to spend half a million dollars a year with an annual increase of 3% for the purchase of what a particular group might think of as culture. No-one asked for a purchase of culture agreement by the town on our behalf. On September 28th when the presentation from the board appeared on the agenda, the financial statement did not. It had been received by the Treasurer on August 14th. I noted it here .I said if it wasn't provided at the meeting, I would present it here.

It was a last minute add-on to the agenda. September 28th was the last meeting prior to the election. The agenda was crammed. Nevertheless time was found for the St Kitts woman to be front and centre, applauding herself vociferously for her accomplishments once again. There was neither the time nor occasion for a polite business discussion with the Culture Board about their program or expenses.

It's a pity. They are a well-intentioned group. intent on doing what they are charged with doing. Although not with community knowledge or agreement. to be the responsibility for our cultural enlightenment. Especially since we heard no such talk in the last election. And particularly since we are still expecting our museum to take its rightful place