The Islesford Museum, previously slated for closure by Acadia National Park, may have been spared in recent days.

According to park officials, the Islesford Museum, which has been operated by Acadia National Park since 1948, was to remain closed this summer due to budget constraints. Acadia National Park is facing budget shortfalls of between $500,000 and $600,000.

Len Bobinchock, assistant park supervisor, says that the annual cost of keeping the Islesford Museum open is around $20,000. The museum is typically open between mid-June and late September, and contains displays and artifacts of island history, including photographs, tools, fishing and navigational items and toys. In addition, park rangers lead interpretive walks throughout the summer.

Upon learning of the proposed cutbacks, many Islesford residents wrote and called the park, asking that the museum remain open at least part-time. Hugh Dwelley, president of the Islesford Historical Society, who has himself written several letters to the park, says that after Acadia agreed to open the museum four days a week, he began searching for volunteers to staff the museum the remaining three. But Bobinchock told him that even with local volunteers, Acadia would need to find an additional $10,000 to open the museum full-time.

The situation brightened further when Dwelley received an email from a park staff member saying that the museum might even be open the full seven days a week. Bobinchock was a little more restrained, saying that it is an “internal goal” to open the museum full-time, and that money will be redirected towards this goal if possible. He also said that the Islesford Museum might not suffer from the budget problems facing the park because it is a relatively inexpensive program to operate, and that there is a long history and sensitivity with regard to how the collection is cared for and opened to the public. Bobinchock also noted that the closure “was not viewed favorably by islanders,” but that there was a very good chance that the museum might operate full-time.

Brook Childrey, curator of the museum, said that this summer the museum will exhibit displays relating island shipping and boatbuilding. Also, the old fire truck, “Little Squirt,” will be on display along side old firefighting equipment. The exhibition of Little Squirt is particularly timely, as the Cranberry Isles created its first municipal fire department at town meeting this March.

Jesse Minor is an Island Institute Fellow in the town of Cranberry Isles.