Irish Harp supports NOTL Museum expansion plans

The Irish Harp’s owner Jovie Joki is never without a community organization or cause or two that needs a helping hand.

To finish out the year, she felt the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum could use some support, and was ready with a cheque for it to start the new year.

The museum is regularly on Joki’s list of recipients, and this year was no exception.

The pub, a popular destination for regulars with its daily entertainment offerings, will let patrons know about its fundraisers and even add a link for donations to regular causes it supports, including the museum and Red Roof Retreat, for which it fundraises throughout the year.

Joki knows the museum has a huge task ahead, to raise a significant amount of money for a major expansion that would make the old buildings completely accessible, and would also expand its space for not only for exhibits but community programming, including kids’ programs and camps.

During the month of December, she asked patrons to donate to the museum, and was able to give CEO Sarah Kaufman a cheque for $1,740, half of that raised from donations, including during their Harvest Festival, and then matched by the pub. She said the ability to offer more programs., especially for kids, is important to the community.

“I’m really grateful for the donation,” said Kaufman. The museum is facing a fundraising campaign that was first launched for a major reconstruction of its existing buildings, she explained, but the plan began to look different in July with the purchase of the historic home of museum founder Janet Carnochan, located right next door, which is now part of the museum’s renovation and expansion plans.

It was more than a year ago that the museum launched its $5 million Building History - Strengthening Community fundraiser. That has been put on the back-burner while details of the expansion, now including the house, are reworked. The intention from the time its purchase was that it would house the research room and reference library. While the house cost the museum $1.42 million, it will lower the cost of the expansion, but the details have yet to be finalized, said Kaufman. “The purchase of the home is saving us money,” she said.

It will also affect the amount the museum has to raise in order to secure federal funding, she said, which is likely to be about $3 million.

Once those details are finalized, she added, “we’ll relaunch the fundraising campaign in the new year.”

One of the big drivers of the expansion, she said, is the need for space to offer “kids programming, but really programming for all residents of the community. And it will allow us to host other groups with recreational programs here at the museum.”