The Town of Huntsville has received a $75,000 Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant to hire a consultant to review operations at Muskoka Heritage Place. The application was submitted in a desire to ensure that the facility generates as much benefit for Huntsville as it can as a cultural asset.
“We want to utlilize the funding resources available to bring someone in to look at Muskoka Heritage Place from every possible angle,” says Scott Ovell, Community Development Officer for the Town of Huntsville. “We need to maybe think outside the box a bit – look at what we could do better and look at alternative revenue streams. The goal is to identify how the site can generate more revenue.”
Last year, Doppler reported that Town staff’s suggestion to apply for the grant saved Muskoka Heritage Place from a possible switch to private management and operations. (Read the story here.)
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” says MHP’s Manager Ron Gostlin. “Year after year Muskoka Heritage Place has consistently performed to or better than Council-approved budget – as a museum we operate as lean or leaner than most. And there is a heap of potential to create partnerships and become more of a community cultural and heritage hub. We need to generate more visitors and revenue and we are hoping to find some new ideas. Sometimes that just takes a fresh set of eyes.”
At July’s General Committee meeting, Kari Lambe, the Town’s Executive Director of Community Services, said that an RFP will be going out soon and that it would be an approximately 10-month process after that before a report is brought back to committee. The consultation process will likely include engagement with the community and stakeholders like the Huntsville and Area Historical Society and the Huntsville & Lake of Bays Railway Society.
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