Niagara Falls council votes in favour of closing Willoughby Historical Museum

The Niagara Falls City Council has voted overwhelmingly in favour of closing and relocating artifacts from the Willoughby Historical Museum.

The museum sits along the Niagara Parkway between Fort Erie and Chippawa.

It opened in 1968 after being converted from a small school house.

The museum does not receive a lot of visitors as it is small, only open seasonally and is in a rural area.

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Some Niagara Falls councilors argued the cost of keeping the museum open is much less than the cost of closing and moving all the artifacts to different locations.

“It seems to be cheaper to keep it going than it does to move all of this stuff, get the new display cases at all the different places,” says Lori Lococo, a Niagara Falls city councilor.

“A resident contacted me and said why would we close it if it’s going to cost $11,000 a year and $23,000 to operate it. It’s still less than the $317,000 that’s listed in the expenses.”

Despite criticism, the motion passed with seven votes in favour and one against.

The museum has already closed for the season and will not reopen next year.

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