Garden of the Gulf's board embarks on plan to breathe new life into the eastern P.E.I. museum

The old red-brick structure that overlooks the Montague River is full of artifacts, but those who help to run it worry about the Garden of the Gulf Museum itself being lost to history.

That's why the board of directors has come up with a five-year strategic plan that it hopes will breathe new life into the eastern P.E.I. museum and help attract more visitors.

"We were stagnating," said Peter Verleun, the board's chair. "We were having a hard time drawing in people and promoting ourselves.

"We just felt that people should have a chance to see it and see what we're doing."

Residents got a glimpse of both the museum's Artifactory and a five-year strategy during an open house on Saturday. (Taylor O'Brien/CBC)

The board held an open house Saturday at the Artifactory, a climate-controlled building where items are stored and prepared for exhibit in the museum.

Residents also got a glimpse at the five-year plan to revitalize the museum and have it better reflect a community that's seen a big expansion in recent years.

It was in 2018 that Montague, Georgetown and Cardigan amalgamated into the new municipality of Three Rivers.

Part of the new plan involves not only showcasing the history of Montague, but of those other two communities as well.

Darlene Sorrey-Scott, a member of the Garden of the Gulf Museum's board of directors, says the hope is to expand hours beyond just the summer months at some point. (Taylor O'Brien/CBC)

"Museums… are filled with old things, but we would like people to think of it as a living place, so we would like more people to be involved," said board member Darlene Sorrey-Scott.

"We are in a large geographic area and we want to expand the idea of telling the stories of Three Rivers, so we would like to welcome and invite more people into the museum family."

Judging by the large turnout at Saturday's open house, area residents have a lot of interest in seeing the Garden of the Gulf Museum thrive.

Gail Steele volunteered at the museum a couple of years ago because of her interest in genealogy.

Area resident Gail Steele says museums help people understand where they come from. (Taylor O'Brien/CBC)

She hopes more people from Three Rivers, and the Island as a whole, will recognize its value.

"A lot of people I saw come in were tourists, they weren't locals, so we need to get locals more involved in our history," Steele said. "It's part of our story, it's where we came from…. You've got to know who you are."

'It's their stories'

The board created the strategic plan alongside tourism consultant Harvey Sawler and through financial support from Three Rivers council and the P.E.I. government.

It also includes a streamlining of the museum's committee structures and bylaws, a new sponsorship campaign to help with cash flow, and making the best use of physical assets. The latter idea could involve opening the Artifactory to the public more often.

While the museum itself only opens over the summer months, Sorrey-Scott said the idea is to gradually expand into the shoulder seasons over the life of the plan.

With many of P.E.I.'s museums facing the same challenges, the bottom line is that "community museums need community members," said the Garden of the Gulf's recording secretary Keara Higgins.

"It's their stories and it's their artifacts and it's their collective history, so we need the engagement of our communities and we love to have them involved," Higgins said.

"It's important to keep all of these objects safe, but if we can't share it with the community then what's the point?"