One of the top things Matthew Janes hopes to tackle along the way is increasing visits by locals.
“We want to get locals to go to the museum,” said Janes, chair of the Corner Brook Museum and Archives Society Inc. on Wednesday.
“It’s not just for people on the cruise ships. It’s the community museum.”
Janes was re-elected chair of the board at the group’s annual meeting Tuesday night.
Increasing local visits and offering more programming and activities for locals were some of the things he touched on in his annual report when discussing the museum’s 10-year strategic plan and where the group was with the various goals it contained.
Getting that plan completed last year was a big step for future development of the museum, said Janes.
“We wanted to get our act together in terms of where we’re going as an organization before we went at that,” he said. “… We feel that now’s the time to … update our look and our feel so we can continue to attract people.”
Some of the ways the museum hopes to do that is through its “Open Archive” show on Rogers to highlight some of the lectures and workshops. A walking tour of Townsite started last year will continue with possible expansion to Curling. The museum also plans to do more with social media to engage people.
Janes said an overall modernization of the museum — from revamping the third-floor space to replacing signage and upgrading the museum’s website — is also in the works.
What’s inside the museum is also in for some changes and additions.
The museum is working with Grenfell Campus to develop its exhibits on the Great War and has secured a number of external grants to help with exhibit design.
Future plans are for exhibits centred on the families of Corner Brook and the centenary of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Ltd.
Janes said the museum is in a good position financially. Last year, it saw an increase in visitation revenue by about 15 per cent, largely due to the development of a relationship with bus tour companies.
It also now has a five-year lease agreement with the City of Corner Brook for the space and continues to receive a yearly operating grant of $15,000 from the city. In addition, the city and the museum share the position of the museum’s manager/archivist with each contributing equally to that salary.
Corner Brook Museum and Archives Society Inc.
Matthew Janes — chair
Leslie Cross — vice-chair
Charles Cameron — secretary
Angela McCarthy — treasurer