The building stood vacant for three long years, until the Town of Montague purchased it from the federal government for use as a museum in 1957. That museum, the
Garden of the Gulf Museum, has become a very popular tourist attraction for the town. With many historical exhibits on display inside, it doesn't hurt that the museum is housed in a provincial heritage building.
While things went along smoothly for many years, in 2016 the museum hit a bit of a bump, caused, they say, by "staffing problems". It seems the problem was a shortage of staff and difficulty in finding knowledgeable and willing bodies to fill out the staff. Their problem seems to have been short lived as they were open again by July of 2016. CBC News ran a short story on the hiccup. See it below.
Montague's Garden of the Gulf museum
re-opens
By Jesara Sinclair, CBC News | Posted: Jul 04, 2016 9:40 AM AT
Museum will open without a genealogist on staff
After
suspending operations in June, the Garden of the Gulf museum in Montague, P.E.I., is opening its doors Monday afternoon.
The opening is a month later than usual, and the museum will be operating with fewer staff.
The museum lost a long-time staff person last year, and the board said it took longer than expected to replace them with a new development coordinator.
Two summer students have also been hired as guides, however the museum no longer has a genealogist.
"We don't really feel it's going to hinder our value to the public as far as the museum itself goes," said board chair John MacDonald.
"I feel great, and I think we have a very excellent and ambitious staff. We have two young guides who I think are going to be excellent and they are both bilingual."
The hours for the Garden of the Gulf museum have also changed slightly — it will be closed on Saturdays and Monday mornings, but open Sunday afternoon.
From CBC News