Petition circulating in Kirkland Lake to save history museum currently housed in Sir Harry Oakes Chateau

Residents of Kirkland Lake are signing a petition in an effort to save the local history museum, housed in the Sir Harry Oakes Chateau.

Kirkland Lake town council no longer wants to pay for the maintenance on the town's most historic home. 

Last month, the council voted to opt out of a deal with the Ontario Heritage Trust and close the nearly century-old building.

"Unfortunately, it definitely came down to budgetary pressures and ongoing capital costs that a community of our size simply cannot justify to our taxpayers," said Kirkland Lake mayor Stacy Wight.

In 1981 the town transferred ownership of the Chateau to what is now known as the Ontario Heritage Trust and signed a 60-year lease which made the municipality responsible for all maintenance.

According to the latest assessment by the Ontario Heritage Trust, the cost to maintain the Chateau, which has housed the Museum of Northern History for decades, exceeds $1 million.

Wight emphasized that since the community wouldn't be able to complete all of the necessary repairs in one fiscal year, the cost of repairs would eventually increase annually.

She said it was a tough and "emotional decision" for council. "But when you're sitting at that council table you have to really be able to remove those emotions and really think what is in the best of the community's interest," she added. 

However some residents are hoping to save the local museum from closing.

An online petition calling for the lease agreement to be preserved has more than 2,300 signatures.

Kirkland Lake resident Beverley McChesney-Rumble, said the chateau and museum are very important heritage sites to the community.

Morning North8:33Kirkland Lake to stop funding historic chateau

There’s a house in Kirkland Lake that’s almost a century old. It's an icon of the town, owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust, and it needs a million dollars in repairs, so the local council is ending its maintenance funding. Mayor Stacy Wight explains why they made the difficult decision.

"It's something that you really can't put a dollar value on," she said

"It's the history of mining in Northern Ontario, the history of the people of this area of Northern Ontario and we have had such an excellent venue people are attracted to."

McChesney-Rumble, who is also part of a group of museum supporters expressed their intention to meet with council and present alternative funding options, including fundraisers, or contributions from businesses or mining companies.

"We also have community partners. It sounds like they're very excited about it and pretty willing to put some money in it," she said.  

Wight acknowledges the community's concerns regarding the museum's fate, assuring them that the Oakes Chateau is a registered heritage building and will not fall into disrepair.

She added that although the museum is set to close at the end of the summer, "the province is going to conserve and protect that building" indefinitely. 

Wight mentioned that the town is working with a consultant, WSCS, to devise a plan for what is going to be done with the artifacts.

"These items are not simply going to be tossed aside. The first step is trying to find the original donors or their next of kins and families." 

"So definitely we are going to be treating these artifacts with the respect they deserve," she said. 

The Heritage Trust says it is currently deciding what to do with the house.

CBC reached out to the Ontario Heritage Trust to comment on the future of the Oakes Chateau. They said they are still "actively considering" what to do next. 

Wight expressed hope that the Ontario Heritage Trust will find a way to keep it open to the public as it is a significant attraction for the community, and is utilized by certain clubs and groups . 

"We definitely want to see it remain open to the public, but just not at a cost to our taxpayers," Wight said.