The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon is one of seven signature museums to receive $23,800 in grant money from the Province and the Manitoba 1-50 Host Committee.

The announcement was made earlier this week by Premier Kelvin Goertzen and Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Cathy Cox.  As Manitoba 150 concludes, the funding will provide ‘$166,600 to Manitoba’s Signature Museums to help support their work to capture and preserve the province’s history’.

Museum Executive Director, Stephen Hayter, says this was a great surprise and well-timed.

“We’re thrilled!  This was not expected funding but its really timely funding,” shares Hayter.  “We’ve discovered we have some roof repairs we need to do.  I’m thrilled that we’re not going to be in a worse situation by not having to not got forward with that.  So, certainly, anytime museums can get some additional funding, they’re always in need to complete other projects and we’re certainly the same way.  We’re thrilled that the province was able to do this!”

The Air Training Museum will hopefully have their new roof before the winter season sets in.

‘Each of the province’s seven designated signature museums will receive $23,800 as a grant that could be used for school and youth programming, exhibits, improving visitor experience or other improvements to these facilities that would support the mandate of conserving and promoting Manitoba’s history,’ stated the most recent media release.

All seven museums, are designated as Travel Manitoba Star Attractions:  The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum (Brandon), The New Iceland Heritage Museum (Gimli), The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada (Winnipeg), The Mennonite Heritage Village (Steinbach), The Manitoba Agricultural Museum (Austin), Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum(Winnipeg) and The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre (Morden).

With COVID closures and restrictions, many community museums across the province were closed throughout the summer.  Brandon’s Air Training Plan Museum finally opened in August, but Hayter feels the emergency funding they were able to apply for and receive was what kept them afloat during the on-going pandemic.

“We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve been able to apply for emergency funding,” he explains.  “I think museums could only succeed really through this pandemic with the aid of emergency funding. We were closed for a good portion of this year and being closed means there’s no revenue coming through the doors.  Once we opened up, things have improved.  We had a very good turnout in August.”

He adds the threat of a 4th wave of COVID and the rise in the number of Delta variant victims creates an uncertain future.  “And we just don’t know what our visitor-ship will look like going forward.  So, at least we’re in a stable situation and we can continue what we’ve been doing in the past.”