WDM loses day to funding freeze

The Western Development Museum (WDM) branch in Yorkton is among the organizations hit by reductions in last month's provincial budget.

The WDM, a province-wide heritage institution that receives 85 percent of its revenue from the province, received a zero percent increase in its annual operating grant this year. To match inflation, the museum says it requires a boost of at least $125,000 per year on its approximately $4 million budget.

As a result, all four WDM locations in the province - Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Saskatoon, and Yorkton - will be closed on Mondays for the rest of the year.

In recent years, branches of the museum have remained closed on Mondays between January and March. Those closures will now be a long-term measure.

The change to operating hours is the WDM board's first response to its budgetary constraints, but it may not be the last.

"Deliberations will continue to ensure that the WDM can maintain a balanced budget, which we've had a long-standing practice of doing," said Susan Mandziuk, manager of the museum's Yorkton branch.

The Yorkton museum employs only two permanent workers, whose jobs will remain intact. But further reductions in hours could affect the number of students hired by the museum during the summer months, said Mandziuk.

The WDM executive hopes to meet with the province about improving its funding situation. Mandziuk encourages supporters of the museum to contact the premier or their MLA.

"I'm really proud of the museum: what we have accomplished, what we represent. We're Saskatchewan's keeper of history," said Mandziuk. " So I hope we can continue to do that."

The Yorkton Western Development Museum receives about 10,000 visitors per year.