Claresholm museum launches matching funding campaign

By Rob Vogt

The Claresholm and District Museum has been presented with a unique fundraising opportunity – but for a limited time only.
Until Dec. 31, any personal donations the museum receives, will be matched dollar for dollar up to a maximum of $50,000.
That means the museum could have $100,000 in its bank account for a new building when the calendar flips to 2026.
Barry Gibb, the museum’s board chair, explained the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta called with a donour interested in contributing to the museum’s new building fund.
The donour, who wishes to remain anonymous, will match personal donations up to $50,000.
Gibb emphasized the donations must be personal, and do not include contributions from organizations, service clubs, businesses, or corporations.
Mich Forster, who also sits on the museum board and is involved with the fundraising committee, said this funding will go a long way to securing additional funding for the new building
“It’s what we need as a base to apply for other grants,” he said.
The museum is fundraising for a new building for a simple reason.
“We’ve run out of storage space,” Gibb said.
Artifacts are currently stored in a variety of spaces including the basement of Mackin Hall, the town yard, and three rented storage units.
Compounding the issue is the basement of the station building flooded, and everything had to be removed from there.
“We have a lot of stuff,” Gibb said.
Moreover, the museum has been negotiating for larger agricultural artifacts but has had to ask the people to hold on to them for awhile.
“(The new building) will be storage plus display,” Forster stressed.
The new building will be located in the green space south of the exhibit hall, and resemble an old-style barn.
It will have 2,000 square feet of unheated space for vehicle and agriculture-related displays.
There will be two rooms with 325 square feet and 190 square feet of heated artifact storage respectively.
There will also be a 45- square-feet workshop; 120 square-feet lunch room; and five lean-to bays on the side of the building each measuring 12 feet by 14 feet.
Gibb noted some of the agricultural artifacts just need to be out of the elements, while others need to be in a climate-controlled environment.
A shop is needed because there currently is no place to clean or repair artifacts, or assemble displays.
The museum is also a victim of its own success.
“We continuously get new items,” Gibb said.
Unfortunately, it is not always possible to display items.
“Currently there is not much opportunity to rotate displays,” Forster said.
The fundraising goal for Phase 1 of the building project is $100,000. The intent is to use that as matching funding to raise a total of $400,000 through grants.
The goal is to apply for grants in the middle of 2026, and begin construction in 2027 or 2028.
Phase 1 is a steel building with concrete floor brought to lockup.
Fundraising would then continue into Phase 2 which will include plumbing, electrical, heating, finishing work, and landscaping.
Anyone interested in donating can use their debit or credit card when the museum is open. E-transfers and cash are welcome, as are cheques which can be made payable to “Friends of the Claresholm and District Museum”.
Tax receipts are available for any donation of $50 or greater, issued by the Friends of the Claresholm and District Museum Society.
Anyone interested in more information can phone the museum at 403-625-1742 or e-mail museum@claresholm.ca.
Information will also be available when the museum hosts its harvest festival on Sept. 13.