It may be closed due to COVID-19, but that doesn鈥檛 mean RJ Haney Heritage Village & Museum is sitting idle.
Salmon Arm鈥檚 premier heritage attraction has been gated since late March, after City of Salmon Arm-owned properties were closed at the direction of council in response to the virus.
While currently not open to the public, grounds keeping and assorted projects continue to be worked on at the 40-acre attraction, so that as health and safety restrictions are slowly lifted, the park will be ready for operation.
鈥淲e鈥檙e bringing back our core staff, those people that work for us every season, and we鈥檙e all doing our part to take care of the park right now so we鈥檙e cleaning, we鈥檙e getting the grounds ready, we鈥檙e finishing up any projects we had going on in the winter鈥� we鈥檙e managing the park and the park is being worked so when we get the notice, hey open your gates, we鈥檙e going to be ready to go,鈥� said Haney general manager Susan Mackie.
Among those projects is the renovation work being completed on the old museum, which has been transformed into the new Sprig of Heather restaurant,
鈥淲e鈥檙e down to the final touches, the cabinetry is going in, it鈥檚 beautiful,鈥� said Mackie. 鈥淲e were so excited to welcome everybody to this great venue for dinner theatre, and a great place to come up and have lunch and to enjoy for events. It鈥檚 just going to sit there and wait.鈥�
Mackie said the park will be proceeding with the next phase of the Montebello Project, a children鈥檚 museum and discovery centre.
Unfortunately, even if the park reopens, it is uncertain at this time if and how annual summer events, including the popular Villains and Vittles Dinner Theatre, would proceed.
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鈥淲e can鈥檛 do it and be safe,鈥� said Mackie, explaining the loss of this summer鈥檚 events would be difficult.
鈥淲e totally rely on our visitors that come through our gates during our season, selling our dinner theatre tickets, members of the community and tourists coming to our events, we rely on that revenue for sustainability, to make it year to year,鈥� said Mackie, adding Haney has been pursuing any funding being made available to non-profits during this time of crisis.
Mackie said Heritage Week fundraising efforts in February provided a boost. But if people want to help now, she suggested they purchase an annual membership for $10, or even an annual season鈥檚 pass.
鈥淓ven if you don鈥檛 get to use it this year, that money will go to help us keep things running up here through this season even if鈥� we don鈥檛 get to open the gates,鈥� said Mackie.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not sitting idle 鈥� we鈥檙e moving forward. If the community wants to help us out by giving us a donation so we make sure these projects keep moving forward in a timely fashion, we鈥檇 appreciate that t0o.鈥�
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