Artifactory to serve museum proposed for Montague property
STEVE SHARRATT
The Guardian
MONTAGUE — An appraisal on a piece of property behind the town hall could be all that stands in the way of the construction of the first artifactory on P.E.I. to serve the Garden of the Gulf museum.
“We’re awaiting an appraisal on this piece of property and hope to make an offer to purchase that site,” says Deputy Mayor David Mabon.
Meanwhile, town council agreed to provide interim financing of $35,000 to the museum board to enable it to combine with other funding arrangements to proceed with the proposed structure.
The new artifactory will likely be constructed on an empty lot behind the Church of Christ and would fulfil the needs of P.E.I.’s oldest community museum to provide space for hundreds of donated and acquired artifacts.
The museum has regular seasonal displays but does not have the space for its collection that is spread out among town buildings and private homes and barns in the region.
“We have the approved funding for the project, but it is becoming increasingly important that we have a plot of land for the building,” museum president Edgar Dewar said in a presentation to council.
“With funding in place, we can issue contracts to start the site work as soon as convenient in the spring and before the contractors get busy.”
This will be great to fill in the field behind the town hall. It will hopefully be a nice-looking building.