NS Heritage Dept to close Perkins House

Perkins House.

Last week, the province’s heritage department announced that it plans to close the Perkins House Museum, in addition to 11 other museums throughout the province

A statement by the Dept of Communities, Culture, Tourisms & Heritage said some of the material and objects currently housed at the museum will be shuffled to other locations in the province-wide system, while others “may” be transferred to “other institutions” or “community organizations.” The statement did not say ‘what’ would go ‘where’ or provide a timeline for what it calls the “de-accessing” of material.

The government’s “Collection Management Policy” govern its museums. It includes a section outlining criteria for the saving of material and objects and provides guidelines on how they are to be handled. That policy can be accessed at https://museum.novascotia.ca/collections-research/policies/collection-management-policy. The section that controls access and the end-of-access to material begins on page 20 of that policy.

While general sweeping budgets cuts were announced, the impact on precise sites of arts, culture and heritage were not spelled out in detail. There are currently 28 museum sites in Nova Scotia.

Queens resident Mary Dahr shared her concern about the provincial debt and “such drastic cutbacks to everything in Nova Scotia.” Dahr added, “One of my major concerns is the Perkins House. For me, the Perkins House is a magical place, it’s something that we in Liverpool have always been really proud of…it’s almost like taking the lighthouse down at Peggy’s Cove – it’s that important…

“…and after they spent two million dollars fixing that house and then to turn around five years later and close it down!”

Local resident André Haines, speaking of the broader funding cuts, spoke of the importance of arts, culture and heritage in drawing visitors and as part of life in Nova Scotia. “We know that arts and culture and heritage have been the cornerstones of modern living throughout history.”