Port aux Basques Mayor Brian Button and councillors discussed the site at the regular town council meeting on Aug. 9.
“The agreement between the town and government has been made,” said Clayton Billard, the chairman of the Heritage Society.
The next step is for the town and society to decide when the town will take over, he said.
Melvin Keeping, the town manager, said the Heritage Society will operate the museum until the end of August before the town takes over.
“We’re looking at another party that had expressed an interest to operate (the museum) from there,” said Mr. Keeping.
Earlier this year, Mr. Billard said the society is stepping back partly because numbers are down.
“We’re just not able to manage the operation anymore,” he said. “It’s too much for just a few people.”
The Heritage Society will continue to help operate the site behind the scenes, but the society also has other projects to focus on, said Mr. Billard.
There used to be a World War I gun called a howitzer in front of Port aux Basques’ courthouse, said Mr. Billard.
“It was there when I was a boy,” he said.
According to Mr. Billard, it was moved over the years and put in the cove, which is now filled with water. One winter, the ice carried it out, and it’s in the bay somewhere.
Someone from the society knows where it is, so members plan to look for it, clean it and see if it can be put back on display.
