City museums under threat
Click here to read An Open Letter from Janice Etter, President of the INNovators
All ten of the City’s ten museums and historic sites are under threat, as of the meeting of the Executive Committee on Monday, Sept. 19 / Tuesday, Sept. 20.
The threats are:
- Those with the lowest attendance and revenues compared to costs could be closed.
- The remaining museums could be divested to a new not-for-profit organization that could take years to build and finance, and would not be part of the City or receive base operating funding.
- The remaining museums could be divested to a restructured, independent Heritage Toronto. Its mandate currently excludes museums, it has no professional expertise with museums, and in ten years it has been unable to forge strong links with suburban parts of the city.
Councillors and the mayor need to hear from the people who love and care
about the ten City museums before the Council meeting on Monday, Sept. 26.
In order to survive, thrive, and help to grow their communities, the museums
must continue to receive their core funding from the City of Toronto.
With no central Museum of Toronto, the ten historic sites (and the collections facility that they share) connect us to the story of how this city grew. They are also places where today’s diverse communities can come together to build a shared future.
City of Toronto Historic Sites:
- provide educational programming for children, youths, and post-secondary students;
- host special events all year-round;
- research and develop exhibits, walking tours, and public programming;
- provide space for meetings, workshops, weddings, family reunions, public gatherings.
At Montgomery’s Inn, we also:
- have a wealth of programs and services related to food, including our tea room, the farmers’ market, and the outdoor bake oven;
- enjoy a special relationship with culture: visual arts, drama, and storytelling, and with Arts Etobicoke, our community-based arts organization (which faces cuts).
Here’s what you can do:
Write, phone, and email the mayor and city councillors.
- Tell the mayor and city councillors that our historic sites belong to all of us!
- Tell the mayor and councillors that museums are not just about the past, but also the future.
- Tell the mayor and city councillors why Montgomery’s Inn and the other city museums are important to you, your community, and the city.
Direct messages to:
Ward 4 Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby (ward councillor for Montgomery’s Inn)
councillor_lindsay_luby@toronto.ca
Phone: 416-392-1369
Fax: 416-696-4138
Mayor Rob Ford
mayor_ford@toronto.ca
Phone: 416-397-FORD (3673)
no fax number
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday
councillor_holyday@toronto.ca
Phone: 416-392-4002
Fax: 416-392-4004
Your own Toronto councillor, or a councillor who you know:
Email addresses, phone and fax numbers can be found at
app.toronto.ca/im/council/councillors.jsp
Contact councillors who have City museums in their wards
www.montgomerysinn.com/councillors-who-have-city-museums-in-their-wards/
Send a letter to:
Office of the Mayor / Councillor [full name]
Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor
100 Queen St. West
Toronto ON M5H 2N2
Please copy Montgomery’s INNovators so we know that you’ve written, or drop us a note if you’ve phoned. Our address is c/o Montgomery’s Inn, 4709 Dundas St. W., Etobicoke, Ont. M9A 1A8, and there is an email address on the web site at www.montgomerysinn.com
If you don’t live in Toronto, your messages are important too!
Join a Facebook group to support our City’s museums:
facebook.com/pages/History-is-Not-Gravy-
Save-Torontos-Historic-Sites
The ten historic sites owned and operated by the City are:
Colborne Lodge
Fort York National Historic Site
Gibson House
Historic Zion Schoolhouse
Mackenzie House
Montgomery’s Inn
Scarborough Museum
Spadina Museum (Historic House and Gardens)
Todmorden Mills Heritage Site
York Museum
There is also a collections facility shared by all of the sites on Atlantic Ave.
Montgomery’s INNovators is a new, membership-based organization that was formed in 2011 for the following purposes:
Lead initiatives to augment Montgomery’s Inn’s capacity to act as a cultural and social bridge within its communities of place and its communities of interest;
Build community support for the vitalization of Montgomery’s Inn;
Develop and implement initiatives and projects that meet community aspirations and needs, and maximize the museum’s capacity as a public community asset; and
Carry out its activities in a manner that is respectful of, and consistent with, plans and objectives for Montgomery’s Inn established by the City of Toronto.
Montgomery’s INNovators expect to be incorporated through the Ontario Historical Society in October, 2011.