The Oliver and District Heritage Society has a new leader and the 2011 Board of Directors have taken steps to cutback its operations. Michael Newman (pictured above) has been elected by the existing board members to lead them. Two main decisions were announced: 1. Closure of the Museum for an undetermined period and 2. The laying off of one staff member, curator Darryl MacKenzie.

The board chair has issued a release to society members and the press which is quoted below:

“The Oliver and District Heritage Society board has taken the decision to close the museum to the public beginning September 1. The board established its officers for the year at an August 9 meeting and elected Michael Newman as chair, Sue Morhun as vice-chair, Linda Gergely as treasurer and Liane Powell as secretary. This difficult decision was its first order of business. The society has been suffering for a number of years from a financial squeeze with the withdrawal of most provincial and federal grants and programs. Like many small cultural organizations it expanded staffing and fixed expenses to absorb most of its core local funding and used provincial and federal grants to support programs and activities. With the withdrawal of this outside funding the only viable solution is to reduce the scale of operations in order to maintain programs that reach out to the community and engage volunteers.

The museum was selected because of its lower public usage and its current location which is problematic as a display and storage space. Over the coming winter the society will be re-examining its vision for the future. During this period it will develop an operational and staffing plan, a needs assessment for physical space, and a plan for assessing and refocusing the current artefact collection. The Archives will remain open with its current hours. The museum building, which was the original provincial police office, is a designated heritage building owned by the Town of Oliver. The society leases the space from the town and will continue to do so until future plans are settled. What it owns is the collection of artefacts, many donated by the pioneering families of the area. The society is committed to the professional maintenance of this public asset and its use to tell the story of Oliver’s past.

I informed the museum director of the board’s decision on Thursday. He has been offered a severance package that is commensurate with his period of service and the board wants to make it absolutely clear that the decision was entirely a financial and operational one and does not reflect upon the director’s performance.”

Michael Newman