It's all good news for the Stratford Perth Museum.
At the museum's annual general meeting earlier this month, a summary of fiscal operations for 2022 was presented that showed the museum in good hands financially, appearing to have weathered the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when many similar cultural institutions are at risk.
Museum General Manager John Kastner says that when the museum opened in May 2022, it had been closed for 55 of the previous 92 weeks, and there were times that he worried that the museum would not come out of it. But in last year's final quarter, attendance and revenue both were above pre-Covid levels.
"We didn't know what the future held for us," said Kastner, who feels the construction of new outdoor theatres was a game-changer for the museum's overall success, as the area has now become a line item in the museum's budget. "The creation of the outdoor theatres, built with federal and provincial money, have matured and become revenue streams. Coming out of COVID, we're now in a situation where we're actually better off, because of these theatres, an improved indoor theatre, and capital funding."
Built last year, the outdoor theatre featured 20 performances in 2022. It now has over 100 dates booked between May 24 and September 4.
The Stratford Perth Museum has now seen 10 consecutive surpluses and created an endowment campaign.
"The museum started out making approximately 65% of our overall revenue, now that's down to around 40%, and we raise the other 60%, which is somewhat unique for a museum" said Kastner, who added the core purpose of the museum continues to be its exhibits.