Meaford Museum Awarded a $31,800 OTF Grant

MPP Murdoch Announces Good News


Meaford - On Monday evening, the Municipality of Meaford hosted Bill Murdoch, MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound who brought with him some great news.  Thanks to a $31,800 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), the Meaford Museum will be able to make renovations to their entrance and ensure it is accessible to all members of the community. 

 
"This grant is a great opportunity for the Meaford Museum to have an eye-catching entrance that is fully accessible to individuals of all abilities who visit each year.  Hopefully this new entrance will attract more visitors to the area, and only improve on what is already a great tourist attraction for Meaford," said Murdoch.


Thanks to the grant, the Museum will be able to construct a 10 ft x 10 ft vestibule with covered porch and automatic openers to make the Museum's main entrance fully accessible.  Currently, the main entrance consists of large glass garage doors which are not easily visible to visitors and which are too heavy for many people to open.  These doors were originally installed to allow staff to drive an antique fire truck in and out of the building.

From 2004-2007 the interior of the Meaford Museum was renovated to become climate controlled and improve exhibit, storage and administration spaces. With these improvements, the facility is now open to the public on a year round basis.

 

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This new addition to the Museum will create a safer entrance with push button door openers making the Museum more accessible to everyone. It will also assist with climate and pest control and create a more visible entrance with more curbside appeal. All of these improvements will increase the number of visitors to the Museum and widen the scope of their audience.


Last year the Meaford Museum had over 4,000 visitors with the breakdown of 85% adults, 15% students and 5% children under the age of 5 years.  Visitor services include museum services, tours/presentations, research, and programming such as travelling exhibits, Mothers' Day Tea, fundraising yard sale, walking & bus tours, Scarecrow Invasion and Christmas activities.


For more information, please visit their website www.meafordmuseum.ca.


The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario. For over 25 years, the Foundation has supported the growth and vitality of communities across the province.  OTF continues to strengthen the capacity of the volunteer sector through investments in community-based initiatives.  For more information, please visit www.trilliumfoundation.org.


For more information, please contact:
Pam Woolner
Meaford Museum
Tel. # - 519-538-5974