Museum exemption

CBRM approves tax exemptions for former BMO building and UNIA cultural museum.

Cape Breton Regional Municipal council has approved tax exemptions for municipally registered heritage properties that are operated as community museums.

The policy is written so that it only applies to two properties — the former BMO building on Charlotte Street in Sydney, which was recently donated to the Old Sydney Society, and the UNIA cultural museum in Glace Bay. Two other properties could be covered by it but were previously exempted by council — Fort Petrie in New Victoria and the Glace Bay Heritage Museum.

Senior planner Rick McCready told council at a meeting this week that while the Municipal Government Act provides little leeway in terms of tax relief, the Heritage Property Act does offer the ability to offer such an incentive.

“A facility that’s registered provincially and not municipally wouldn’t be eligible here,” McCready said.

At the time the turnover of the 117-year-old former BMO building was announced, officials with the Old Sydney Society indicated it would be transformed into a museum for visitors and residents, and also serve as the new home base of the society, with the content, structure and design of the museum to be determined in the months ahead.

Society president Vince MacLean said likely beginning in August society board members will tour the building, and an architect advise the society about its options.

He said there was no firm timeline for when the building may be up and running as a museum because the society wants to take its time and make sure the structure, content and design of the museum is done right.

In his memo to council, McCready noted that the museums contribute to the cultural life of community and play an important role in supporting the local tourism industry. He noted the purpose of the policy is to assist museums that are located within recognized heritage structures by providing their owners with relief from property taxes, enabling the organizations that operate them to focus their resources on upgrading and maintaining the physical structures to ensure their longterm viability.

To qualify, a building must be owned by a non-profit society registered under the province’s Societies Act and must operate as a community museum that is open to the public on a regular basis for at least part of the year.