No more granite museum in the granite capital of Canada

Last month, the Granit Central Museum in Stanstead closed its doors following years of financial challenges. “It’s a sad story,” said owner Gabriel Safdie, describing the circumstances surrounding the closure of the museum.

“It was a very important institution for Stanstead to have,” he commented.

Safdie purchased the museum in 2009. At the time, the plan was to breathe new life into the facility and turn it into a thriving and celebrated cultural institution in the community.

“At the last meeting that we held with the committee, not a single granite company came,” Safdie said. “That was the last straw.”

For the last three years, the rent on the building hadn’t been paid, Safdie added.

Teaming up with a miniature train collection and exhibit in the back of the museum was thought to increase interest and attract more visitors, but not enough to make the museum viable, according to Safdie.

The last-ditch effort was to set up a granite recycling operation, the revenues from which would keep the museum afloat. That plan faded when one of the key figures involved in the project passed away, Safdie said.

“It (the museum) wasn’t properly run,” Safdie said, explaining that what the museum needed was a curator with experience to manage Granit Central.

“I’m left with what was in the building,” Safdie said.

The trains have been removed. The displays from the various granite companies have been taken away.

The museum itself, the artifacts and sculptures, are all that remains, Safdie said.

He is hoping to reach an agreement with the Colby-curtis Museum to donate the artifacts and find a more suitable location for them. “Now the building is for sale or rent,” said Safdie. “I want to get the building into the hands of someone who can do something for the town,” he said.