The province says it’s taking over the site and “reviewing options for reopening.”
Victoria’s 19th-century Point Ellice House historic site will close its doors to the public on Aug. 21.
The national and provincial heritage site will cease operations as a public heritage destination, and the province will assume control of the site on Sept. 2, ensuring the site and its heritage artifacts are “preserved and protected,” the provincial Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport said in a statement.
The ministry said the province is “reviewing options for reopening” and will make an announcement once a decision has been reached.
The site has struggled in recent years and has been through several operators, the most recent being the Métis Nation B.C., which took control of the site in January 2024.
Métis Nation B.C. had hoped to turn the museum into a place where more Indigenous stories could be told.
The museum, which is open Wednesday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. this week at 2616 Pleasant St., has been encircled by a 10-foot fence since the Métis Nation took over. It was closed from Sept. 28 to May 14 for its winter break.
On Tuesday, the Métis Nation declined to comment on the impending closure of Point Ellice House, directing the Times Colonist to contact the provincial government instead.
Kelly Black, who ran the museum from 2019 to 2023 with the non-profit Vancouver Island Local History Society, said he’s not surprised, but still disappointed that the museum will be closing its doors again.
He called the closure the “inevitable outcome” of the province’s failure to adequately fund the operation of provincial heritage sites.
A government-commissioned study in 2007 said it would take $230,000 annually to properly run the site.
But Black said the province was only willing to commit to $110,000 in annual operating funding when he was executive director at the museum, even though it required at least $325,000 a year to run sustainability at that point.
Under his tenure, Point Ellice House had 30 volunteers helping out, but volunteers can’t replace the work of professionals, he said.
“The province is trapped in a cycle of offering low funding for fresh business plans every few years,” he said. “It’s a complete shame, and the people that lose out are British Columbians and visitors to Victoria.”
The ministry said it has provided more than $55 million in funding to preserve and protect heritage assets across the province since 2020.
But Black said most of that money was spent on things such as roof repairs and fire and flood mitigation.
“It’s not funding for operating the sites, for paying professional people to care for and present these places to the public and visitors from elsewhere,” he said.
“We’ve now seen the province spend $800 million on seven soccer games, so it’s hard to believe any claim the government makes about support for arts, culture and heritage in this province.”
Paul Nursey, chief executive of Destination Greater Victoria, the marketing organization that sells Victoria to the world, said the site plays a role in the tourism economy.
“For many years, Point Ellice House has been an important part of Greater Victoria’s heritage story. While the property has had many operators over the years, we appreciate the province’s commitment to preserving the site and look forward to learning more about its plans for the future,” he said.
Point Ellice House is one of Victoria’s oldest homes and a time capsule of 19th-century settler life. About 12,000 objects from the O’Reilly family fill the home, which was built in 1862.
The house was built for Charles Wentworth and his wife, Catherine, daughter of John Work, who was chief factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company. It was expanded by the O’Reilly family, who bought the house in 1867 and lived there until 1975.
Peter O’Reilly expanded the house and landscaped its gardens between 1875 and 1889.
It’s the last remaining residence in Rock Bay, one of Victoria’s first residential neighbourhoods but now an industrial zone, and has two acres of heritage-designated gardens, the largest collection of in situ household items in North America, and the longest remaining natural shoreline on the Gorge Waterway.
In 1966, the property was designated a national historic site. It became a provincial heritage site in 1975, when the province bought the house and all of its contents from the O’Reilly family.
The house is also listed in the City of Victoria’s heritage registry.
Métis Nation B.C. was the fifth group to take on Point Ellice House since the province started contracting out site operations in 2002.