Ermatinger-Clergue to open year-round? Maybe

The expansion of the Ermatinger-Clergue National Historic Site was the hottest topic up for discussion at Wednesday’s Historic Sites Board meeting.

“The Heritage Discover Centre” is a proposal Historic Sites Board Chair Kathy Yukich will pitch at a city council meeting on April 22.

The project budgeted at $4 million has been an effort the board has been pursuing for about three years, said board member Susan Myers.

She explained the industry was strong three years ago, and during the first round of infrastructure programming, the plan was considered to be a small project in contrast to some of the other projects that were already underway.

“This has been on the radar with our staff for quite some time,” Myers said. “The mayor has been very supportive of this project, the CAO has been working closely with us to see how we can move forward on this, but the reality is we have 25 cent dollars, and that just does not happen with any kind of provincial or federal funding.”

In terms of funding, Myers outlined the various sources of funds required to satisfy the budget.

She said the Ermatinger-Clergue site received $1 million from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, $1.9 million in federal funding from both the War of 1812 Fund and the Heritage Canada Cultural Spaces Fund.

The site has also received a “couple hundred thousand” from municipal funding and its own reserve.

In total, Myers said the site has $3.1 million in hand, but there still remains a $900,000 shortfall.

She hopes the remaining funds can be accumulated through a number of outstanding applications to Accessibility Ontario, other smaller funding from the Sault’s Accessibility Committee, and private sector sponsorship.

“We have sought private sector sponsorship for this project,” Myers said. “We made approaches to Essar, Tenaris, and we have some others that we will be pursuing. To date, we have no confirmed private sector sponsorship, and the time is passing where we have got to move forward on this because the federal and provincial partners, who have patiently waiting for us, need to have their contracts signed and see these funds come.”

In a past council meeting, the board asked the commissioner of finance to formulate a strategy to move forward on plan.

It will receive the report at the April 22 council meeting.

Myers explained the fastest-growing sectors are events and education components, and in proposal there would be an expansion in numerous areas of the Old Stone House, most notably the summer kitchen.

“What’s important about the Heritage Discovery Centre is that it’s going to do two critical things for us,” she said. “Number one, we’re a nine-month operation right now, and it will take us to a 12-month operation. It’s a state-of-the-art facility that will have interactive displays, a 50-seat theatre that can be used for so much.”

Myers said she is optimistic that city council will authorize the mayor to proceed with the signing of the contracts.

“It’s exciting. This is a growing market in tourism, which today is challenging enough, but this whole heritage-entertainment is a growth market.”

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Editors note. Correction: The original article stated: The site has also received a “couple thousand” from municipal funding and its own reserve.

It has been corrected to read: The site has also received a “couple hundred thousand” from municipal funding and its own reserve.