Thanks to contributions from Friends of the GMWSRS, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Garfield Weston Foundation and the Province of New Brunswick, we have been able to renovate our facility on Grand Manan. The funds have allowed us to lift the house and put a full basement under it and none too soon. Most of the sills had rotted away.
We expect to have the house set back on the foundation the beginning of December, after which we will install the windows and basement door and have the roof re-shingled. We had to remove the old brick chimneys which were no longer used and were more of a liability than an asset. After the drainage and back filling occurs, we will then have a lot of landscaping and building of decks to access the now higher building. Because Grand Manan is very rocky, we could not dig a deep basement and the basement extends upwards, leaving the house higher than it was.
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| GMWSRS facility on Grand Manan with new basement poured under it, after it was lifted to allow this to happen. |
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| GMWSRS facility as it was before the renovation. |
We look forward to the new space and plan to expand the museum with a meeting room and also a work space for researchers and interns. In the winter, the added storage will be appreciated. We will also have expanded parking for visitors.
