Museum gets $4.5 million in federal funding - re-development and rebuild is now a sure thing.

By Pepper Parr

May 26th, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

Town Crier David Vollick gets the announcement meeting off to a good start. For $4.5 million – he really rang that bell.

The cheque was just short of $4.5 million but the happy faces at the Joseph Brant Museum this morning were not quibbling.

Barbara Teatero, Executive Director Museums of Burlington

A project that started 22 years ago when the first report was produced and became the life work of Barbara Teatero was made real with the federal government announcement that the renovation – rebuild of the Museum is now funded.

It is going to cost considerably more than $4,479,000 to do all the work that is planned but without the federal money the project was never going to break ground.

John Doyle

Larry Waldren

John Doyle and Larry Waldron wore smiles that came close to lighting up the room that had 40+ people crammed into it while Town Crier Dave Vollick rang his bell and proclaimed the way only Vollick can proclaim that the museum was going to go through a significant change.

Construction schedules are being worked out – tenders will have to be let and scheduling completed.
Allan Magi had to tell city council a number of months ago that he was faced with a very challenging problem – organizing the construction without knowing for certain that the money was in the bank.

The Capital Works department will now be able assemble the internal team and begin with a project that will add another cultural destination for people who choose to visit Burlington.

Architect’s rendering of what the new Joseph Brant Museum could look like when it opens.

The new museum will have triple the space of the existing facility; the hope is that the space will be able to attract top tier travelling exhibits to the city.

While the politicians were doing what they do with words Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven cast a glance toward Doyle and raised an eyebrow and tipped his head – they had pulled it off.

Those waters were the view that Joseph Brant had each morning when he stepped out of his house that was on what he described as Burlington Bay. That path in the middle of the picture was once a two track railway line into the town.

It was a big day – it will take a couple of years to get to the Opening Day – and a fitting one for Joseph Brant who made Burlington his home for the last years of his life.

What will he think when the new Museum is opened?