Funding problems may lead to closure of Glace Bay museum

Described as the saviour and backbone of the Glace Bay Heritage Museum, Elke Ibrahim says she may take off her hat — maybe even all 20 of them.

Ibrahim, vice-chair of the Glace Bay Heritage Museum Society, said if the society doesn’t get capital and operating funds from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, it might be forced to hand the museum back to the CBRM.

“It is a dire situation now, very dire,” she said. “If we have to close down then we’ll have to turn the heritage building back to the municipality.

“It totally makes me so sad that there’s not value left in this last heritage building and museum for them to justify solid assistance on an annual basis.”

For the past 18 years, Ibrahim has been a full-time volunteer at the museum, doing everything from washing toilets to selling plants to raise money for furnace oil. Ibrahim said the CBRM doesn’t seem to see the value in volunteers who spend a lot of their own money and time every day.

When the society first started about 20 years ago it received $20,000 from the CBRM but very little since, she said, noting “we never received any operating money, ever.”

Over the years Ibrahim said they have received some funds, including through Heritage Canada and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency for building restoration, a process painstakingly being done “bit by bit.”

About three weeks ago, Ibrahim made a plea for $40,000 in funding to CBRM council but was denied.

“I’m very sad,” she said, adding this is the third year in a row they’ve been turned down for funding.

“Things are leaking, we need a new chimney, a roof and operation money for the day-to-day,” she said. “It’s been very hard here, it’s a poor town and we don’t have any young people to help.”

Ibrahim said the CBRM now wants the museum to make another presentation in order to apply for funds through the sustainability fund, which she says has already been done.

“The most we could get from the sustainability fund is $10,000 and that won’t even pay the oil bill.”

Ibrahim said the building is 115 years old and houses thousands of irreplaceable photographs and artifacts of what was once Canada’s largest town.