The cash-strapped Maritime Museum of B.C. finally got some good news — a $500,000 grant from a private Bahamian foundation. But there’s a big catch to how the windfall can be accessed.
The money from the TK Foundation must be applied to needed improvements to rental space in the CPR Steamship Terminal Building, which in turn must be leased long-term as the museum’s new home. That would require the province returning to negotiations for that space, said museum chairman Clay Evans. Protracted talks for the 6,000-square-foot space — deemed too expensive — fell through after about nine months and three extensions.
“It would be great if we could roll back time a couple of months to some of the offers that were on the table for base rent subsidies — the $90,000 a year for 10 years [that] was certainly in the discussion phase,” Evans said, adding the museum is “still positive that we can potentially re-establish the relationship with the province and get the lease negotiations going again.”
Greater Victoria Harbour Authority manages the CPR building on behalf of the province and needs a break-even rent from the tenant to meets its obligations to the province.
The deadline for expressions of interest for the space, empty since 2012, close on Monday, and the museum plans to submit a proposal.
The harbour authority would “certainly be open to reopening discussions with them,” spokesman Ivan Watson said. “We basically reserved a space for eight, almost nine months. That would have been our preference.”
Watson said the $500,0000 could be good news. “We’d have to see a formal, viable proposal. All along we’ve been guided by the principle of break-even — it wasn’t our intention to make money on this space.”
The TK Foundation, named for the late global shipping magnate J. Torben Karlshoej, has awarded more than $41 million US in grants to non-profit operations “to improve the maritime realm and the lives of disadvantaged youth.”
The museum has been homeless since Oct. 21, when the province asked it to vacate its longtime premises in Bastion Square. All artifacts must be out of the space by Sept. 30, with many headed for storage. The museum plans to open a storefront operation in Nootka Court on Labour Day.
In a statement, the Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services said “it has said all along it would assist in any future negotiations for an appropriate, mutually agreed upon space by providing information on possible options and advice on lease agreements, however, no additional funding would be provided.”
It suggested the museum could apply for gaming grants, like any other non-profit organization. When the museum closed, 70 per cent of income due to tickets and other sales ceased.
If a lease can be successfully negotiated, the TK Foundation grant could be used to raising matching funds from the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund or a local fundraising campaign, Evans said.
The City of Victoria gave the Bastion Square courthouse to the province for $1 in 1977. The agreement came with “the obligation to house the museum in perpetuity — either in the courthouse or another mutually agreeable location.”
The city has been searching for its copy of the agreement, signed by former mayor Mike Young and provincial secretary Grace McCarthy; Citizens’ Minister Amrik Virk maintains that signed or unsigned, the province has met its obligation.
Neither Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, nor Coun. Pam Madoff, the city’s liaison with the museum, replied to requests for comment.
