Belleville City Council approved a recommendation to have city staff evaluate the results of a feasibility study and begin preliminary planning and evaluation that could lead to the potential expansion of the Belleville library to accommodate a future Belleville museum.
A Museum Needs Feasibility Study was conducted as part of the 2023 Operating Budget from the City of Belleville that would assess facilities, programs and collections at Glanmore National Historic Site and make recommendations that would address the City of Belleville’s museum needs.
The study was completed over the summer of 2024 by Lord Cultural Resources, which said the site could no longer function as both a historic house and a community museum.
It also said that Glanmore had “insufficient and inadequate visitor service, exhibition, programming, collection storage and staff space.”
The study recommended construction of a new storage building at Glanmore to house and protect the existing valuable artifact collections and works of art and to allow the continued collection of artifacts.
Currently, Belleville’s Museum Services has three collections that have approximately 30,000 artifacts.
It also called for the completion of restoration work at Glanmore, improvements to staff work areas and public spaces, and the addition of a fire suppression system for the preservation and safety of the building and artifact collection.
Estimated costs from feasibility study into Glanmore National Historic Site (Screenshot from Belleville report)
During discussion of the report, Councillor Paul Carr said he supported the resolution to have staff look into the recommendations and begin planning.
“I think it’s important that we take the initiative to preserve our past,” Carr said to council.
“The best way to prepare for the future is learn about the past, and so I think we need to certainly preserve the artifacts we have.”
Councillor Sean Kelly also expressed his support of the recommendation, saying if they could get something done with Belleville Public Library that it would be a win-win.
“The Glanmore (National) Historical Site needs more exposure,” Kelly tells council.
“It needs more support from partnerships within the city. That’s how I see it through my lens, and if we’re with the library, I just see this reaching more people.”
The total cost of the recommendations would be about $21.3 million with the new museum accounting for approximately $17.6 million of that estimate.
A new museum would be a long-term project involving several years of planning and a fundraising campaign with the report outlining a possible completion in 2033.
The full feasibility report can be found at the City of Belleville’s website.
