Town looks to sell historic Lunenburg Academy, calling it an 'unsustainable burden'

The Town of Lunenburg is looking to sell its historic academy, saying it's too expensive to keep up.

Known as the "castle on the hill," Lunenburg Academy is a three-storey Victorian school building from the late 1890s that has become an icon of the town, and is a National Historic Site.

Millions in provincial and federal funds have gone into renovations since 2012 when the town took over the building, and the town itself has paid nearly $2 million in capital and operating costs since then.

Last April, the town offered the building to the Lunenburg Academy Foundation (LAF) — which came as a surprise to Rachel Bailey, president of the foundation and former Lunenburg mayor.

"It was very, very disheartening to have this thrust upon us without that kind of discussion and I think the broader community's feeling that as well," Bailey said Tuesday.

Bailey said the foundation wasn't ready to take the step at that time but it has since hired a consultant to do a feasibility study on whether LAF could handle the costs alone or with other community groups. That report is due back at the end of May.

LAF released financial details in a letter last week, showing that although the Academy did have an operating shortfall of roughly $713,000 over the past 10 years, revenue has increased since it took on new tenants. 

At year end 2022, revenues totalled $240,894 with expenses of $223,272, leaving a small surplus. The LAF also collected $1.5 million in a recent fundraising campaign, and gathered more than $200,000 specifically for its new Heritage Interpretive Classroom.

But besides the financial picture, Bailey said it's "quite a different scenario" for a volunteer charitable organization to take on sole ownership of such a site rather than a government body, especially when it comes to staff, insurance and buying power.

Sale not 'only path forward'

"I do understand that the council feels some … financial pressure, but I really don't understand nor support the manner that's been suggested as the only path forward," Bailey said.

"It has value well beyond the community. It's important to the country because of what it demonstrates and the story it has to tell." 

The issue became public earlier this month when the Lunenburg Barnacle released an April 1, 2022, letter that the news outlet received through a freedom of information request.

In it, town heritage manager Arthur MacDonald wrote to Parks Canada to tell the department Lunenburg wanted to sell land that may have an impact on the Old Town of Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The list included the academy and the lot surrounding it.

Mayor Matt Risser said the issue had been dealt with in private sessions of Lunenburg council until now, but "it was always our intention to make this public at the appropriate juncture."

Risser said he remains hopeful the LAF can take over the historic building — but with no reliable annual funding from other levels of government to help with sites like the Academy, the town is left with an "unsustainable burden."

"I can go anecdote to anecdote with anybody on my love for that building. But, you know, you also have to be able to read a balance sheet and … honour the fiduciary responsibility for your taxpayers and that is to not bear a disproportionate burden for the heritage obligations that come with being an internationally recognized site," Risser said.

Risser said there's "no real threat to the building itself" as the Academy is protected as a National Historic Site and by the town's own heritage laws.

If the foundation can't take over the building, Risser said the town could always decide to keep it — but municipal taxes would likely have to go up, so the issue could go to a plebiscite in the next municipal election.

Risser himself is stepping down as mayor in May, and a byelection will be held soon to fill that role.