LAURIE WEIR

The Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario (RMEO) is seeking an annual contribution of $50,000 from the town for the next five years to support its operations and maintenance. As a National Historic Site and designated heritage building, RMEO serves as a cultural hub and an economic driver for the local community.

The town’s committee of the whole heard from Becky Allen, the museum’s executive director, during a regular meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15. 

Historical Significance: RMEO is housed in the Canadian Northern Station, a circa-1912 building on a nine-acre property, featuring over 40 rolling stock artifacts, nine buildings, and three kilometers of railway track.

Tourism and Events: The museum is a major tourist attraction in Smiths Falls, hosting over 15,000 visitors annually and organizing 18 event days, including large-scale events like the North Pole Express, Hogwarts Express, Trainfest, and the Easter Eggspress. These events have become community favorites, drawing in locals and tourists alike.

Airbnb: RMEO also operates a unique Airbnb experience, allowing visitors to stay overnight in a caboose, earning it a 5-star Superhost rating with guests coming from Toronto, Ottawa, the U.S., and Europe.

Despite its success, RMEO faces significant challenges, Allen said. The 112-year-old building requires constant maintenance and upgrades to its aging infrastructure, including accessibility improvements. The most pressing issue is the roof. The museum is highly reliant on volunteers, many of whom are aging, and it struggles with the increasing demands of labour-intensive fundraising initiatives to cover operating and infrastructure costs.

Historically, the town has provided varying levels of financial support to RMEO, with contributions fluctuating over the years, Allen noted. The museum is now requesting a stable, long-term financial commitment of $50,000 annually for the next five years to address these challenges and ensure continued operations.

RMEO’s contribution to Smiths Falls goes beyond tourism. It partners with local organizations like the Smiths Falls and District Chamber of Commerce and LeBoat, serves as a beacon of community pride, and drives economic growth in the region. Allen stated that she hoped a partnership with the town will secure its future and maintain its role as a key community and cultural asset.

Coun. Dawn Quinn said she was on the board of directors for a number of years “and I was there when we weren’t sure the doors were going to stay open. We have come through a lot of difficult times but it certainly has turned around.”

Coun. Chris McGuire noted that the museum took a leadership role during the summer when business was slow, hosting meetings and getting groups together. “That’s important … an intangible value that you bring to the table.”

McGuire said as they look at the options long-term on how to help the museum, “it’s worth having the conversation … if the town was to own the property and lease it to the Railway Museum Board at a long-term lease to operate and manage it, then the municipality becomes responsible for all that uptake that other organizations are taking advantage of. I think that would be the best way for the RMEO to get that stable partnership.”

He noted with the municipal election in 2026, he’s not sure what that annual grant would look like following their term of council, nor would they know what the funding would look like from the community grant perspective. 

If the town were to take over the ownership of RMEO, McGuire suggested they could take over some of the capital expenditures – like the roof. “We can partner better on it,” he said. 

McGuire also suggested looking at a steal roof, to keep with the heritage aspect of other buildings in town like the post office, as opposed to shingles that are currently on the roof.

“It’s not the quality of finishing a building like that deserves,” he said. 

Coun. Jennifer Miller she said she was disappointed to see the lack of funding from the town in recent years. Funding went from $40,000 over four years (2015-18) to $20,000 (2019-2021), to under $25,000 in 2022, to just over $25,000 in 2023, with less than $10,000 this year. 

“I see the value of what you do for Smiths Falls, what the museum does for our community,” Miller said, “and I’d like to pass it to staff to come back with a recommendation of how we move forward on this because I think some consistency is in order.”

Mayor Shawn Pankow said he was intrigued by McGuire’s suggestion of the town taking ownership of the museum. “There is no doubt that the museum is one of our most treasured assets and probably draws more people into our community as a tourism asset than anything else that’s in our community,” he said. Pankow wondered about an asset management plan. 

Tony Humphrey, RMEO board member, volunteer and retired train engineer, said they’ve replaced the furnace, hot water tank, “etc., etc., it’s all done except the roof,” he said. “We need about 500 sheets of plywood to go up there.” It will hold the weight of the shingles needed to repair it. 

Humphrey said the roof wasn’t damaged by water, but because it has had so many nails in it, the wood has become unstable. 

The mayor asked what the $50,000 would do annually. 

Allen said because they’re an independent museum, and having this amount of funding annually would help provide a buffer in their operating budget – currently at just under $300,000.

“We have strong ingredients right now,” Allen said. “We have all these retired tradesmen, a retired engineer … they put in between 10 and 40 hours a week. Without them, it would be a challenge, but right now we have the momentum to do so much.”

A retired teacher paints constantly – and if they couldn’t get someone to do that for free, “our operating budget wouldn’t look like it does right now.”

Without that buffer the museum would be vulnerable to more expenses. 

Pankow said they recognize the valuable asset that the museum is and they want to sustain it. 

“It’s only sustainable today because of the innovation … to create new events, and new activities that keep people coming in,” Pankow said, as he gave a nod to the volunteers who are able to continue to expand the offerings and maintain the place. “We want to ensure that RMEO continues to thrive and succeeds in our community.”