‘The work is crucial’: Glace Bay Heritage Museum seeks restoration funding

As Glace Bay marks its 125th anniversary, residents try to breath new life into Old Town Hall.

If the walls of the Old Town Hall in Glace Bay, N.S., could talk they might tell the story of the community’s history.

“It was built in 1902, finished in 1903,” said Elkie Ibrahim, vice-president of the Glace Bay Heritage Museum Society.

They might also tell stories of people who were imprisoned there more than a century ago.

“The basement of the Old Town Hall was the old police station and the jails,”, said Const. Gary Fraser of the Cape Breton Regional Police, who sits on the museum’s board of directors.

This year marks Glace Bay’s 125th anniversary. For the occasion, the people who operate the Old Town Hall as a local heritage museum are hoping for funding to keep the building from falling into disrepair.

“The work is crucial,” Ibrahim said. “There is water coming through the basement walls and you know what happens to a house with a bad foundation.”

The top two floors of the building are filled with history and artifacts and have been renovated.

One of the hopes now is to restore the basement, which still looks like it would have generations ago.

“It needs windows, it needs a lot of work,” Fraser said. “But again, it’s an icon in the community. (It’s) a big building, it stands out. A lot of people use it. We have cruise ship people who come in (and tour the museum), so it’s a very important part of the community.”

“Our history is there,” added CBRM councillor Dave MacKeigan. “We have a very rich history in coal mining and fishing.”

The museum’s board of directors said it would like to see help from all three levels of government.

MacKeigan said information is being collected to see what might be able to be done at the municipal level.

“Those talks are taking place,” he said. “We haven’t gone to council yet, but we have had conversations with the Old Town Hall to see what needs to be done and if there’s anything we can help with.”

Ibrahim said a structural engineer is expected to visit next week, which might give the people who take care of the museum a better idea of what they need.

For now, she figures a milestone like the community’s 125^th anniversary is a good time to start asking.

“It would be the greatest, most important birthday present for the town of Glace Bay,” Ibrahim said.

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