The Parksville Museum is looking at a budget deficit of roughly $65,000 and is asking the City of Parksville for significantly more funding.
Board director Jon Walters presented to Parksville council and said for years the museum could rely on funding from the Craig Endowment, but that money has largely been used up over time.
“Our situation is one of viability at this point, not what we can do this year, but whether or not we are going to sustain ourselves as a museum and as a historical society,” Walters said during a council meeting on Nov. 6. "Our unrestricted funds now at the museum are such that we are not sustainable to anything like the mid-term.”
The Parksville and District Historical Society applies for grant-in-aid funds from various sources, he added, but it is not enough. The museum has also reduced its operating hours in a bid to cut costs and stay afloat, he said.
The museum has requested $20,000 in funding this year, in addition to the usual $5,000.
“That is not going to staunch the bleeding of our deficit," Walters said. "That might buy some bandages and some sutures for the patient, but it’s not going to stop it.”
Walters made the case that other Island municipalities fund their museums at a significantly higher rate, per capita, compared to Parksville.
In particular, Qualicum Beach funds its museum to the tune of $115,300 per year, which works out to $12.10 for every resident of the town.
“Parksville’s consistent and traditional contribution of $5,000 to the museum represents 37 cents per person," Walters said. “That’s 30 times less than Qualicum Beach.”
He asked council to consider increasing the annual funding to $60,000.
“We’re hoping we can stay open long enough this year, to get to next year,” Walters said.
The issue came back to the council table during the Nov. 18 financial plan meeting, when council unanimously carried a motion to confirm the museum's $5,000 annual funding.
Council also voted to defer the request for increased funding until the museum comes back to council with more information about how other municipalities fund their museums.
