The Revelstoke Heritage Railway Society is receiving $67,217 in emergency funding to help operations get back on track.
The society, which is responsible for the Revelstoke Railway Museum and the Craigellachie Last Spike historic site, relies heavily on visitation and sales to survive.
In March 2020 they where forced to close for three and a half months which hugely effected business. Visitation dropped by half in 2020 and the society’s bottom line dropped by over $60,000.
The one-time funding is part of the provincial governments Major Anchor Attractions Program. The program, which was last updated June 8, is available to Anchor Attractions in order to help them operate at minimum levels until domestic travel resumes and it’s safe to gather indoors in small groups.
“We are delighted that the Province of B.C. recognizes our impact on B.C. tourism and saw fit to support us,” said Roger Eddy, president of the Revelstoke Heritage Railway Society. “The past sixteen months have been truly challenging for our society. Just as for many businesses, the pandemic decimated our revenues. While things are slowly ramping up, we all know that lots of uncertainty remains. So this support is very encouraging.”
The society plans to use the money to pay fixed costs such as insurance, utilities, lease payments and mortgage interest, as well as help pay of any non-government emergency COVID loans taken out over the last 16 months.
READ MORE: Meet the new director at Revelstoke Railway Museum
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