The Sundre & District Historical Society is hoping the town meets its budget request of $17,600 to help with escalating utility costs that are putting a serious strain on finances for the local volunteer-based organization.
Jack Nichol, president of the society, made a presentation at the Nov. 5 council meeting and outlined the organization's funding challenges, particularly in paying for rising utility costs. He is hoping the town will waive the cost of utilities, which will come in at around $17,600 for the year.
However, he said he expects the society will only receive about $6,000 from the town. The request by the museum to have utility costs waived by the town has been a “perpetual” one since 2009, but the town, with the exception of 2010, has provided only a portion of the total request.
He said the situation has become so urgent that the museum will for the first time remain open six days a week throughout the winter months. In past winters the museum was open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, as well as 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. This winter the museum, which is an all-volunteer organization, will be open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“The costs are higher in the winter but there are less people coming through the door,” said Nichol. “By February and March we are struggling to pay our bills.”
He said the museum's current situation arises from past humidity issues in the building that houses the World of Wildlife Museum. The more than 170 mounted exhibits for the World of Wildlife Museum were donated to the society six years ago by Chester Mjolsness, who collected them during past hunting expeditions.
Nichol said the exhibits began drying out after two years at the museum. It was discovered that humidity levels had to be nearly doubled to ensure the longevity of Mjolsness' collection. Nichol said it cost the society $5,000 to upgrade the humidity system.
However, the upgraded humidity system is proving to be an extra cost to the museum as it uses more energy, said Nichol.
“We can never shut that down,” said Nichol. “We have to keep it (humidity system) at those levels all the time, summer and winter.”
Nichol said the society must now utilize the extra open days and hours at the museum as an opportunity to collect more revenues, on top of its ongoing efforts to raise more funds in the community.
“We just have to be really scrimping, do our fundraising. I go out soliciting. We have to get enough to offset this cost,” said Nichol, adding his society puts on many events for the community but raising extra revenues has proven to be a challenge. “We get good turnouts but we are lucky to break even. We have to go to different community groups to help cover costs.”
Meanwhile, Town of Sundre staff and council are currently at work on the priorities for the 2013 budget, a process that will continue until just before Christmas. On Nov. 5, town council voted to defer the historical society's request to the budget deliberations, along with requests from the Sundre and District Aquaplex and the Sundre Municipal Library.
