The Smalspoor Museum in Erica has received zero on the complaint at the Emmer Objections Committee. The Southeast Drentse attraction argued in May for an increase in the annual subsidy from 25,000 to 40,000 euros from the municipality of Emmen.
But the objections committee judges that the Commission was right to reject the application, despite the fact that the motivation was initially found to be lean. Nevertheless, the museum resigns itself to the outcome.
According to the board, the extra money is needed to make an important step forward and thereby guarantee the future of the museum. The museum largely runs on volunteers and therefore wants to appoint a permanent force for professional management.
Although the museum recently has an official museum status and has been included in the Cultuurnota, there has been no consultation about the requested amount. Despite earlier commitments, the board says. They are therefore surprised by the amount of the grant award and the lack of motivation for that.
The municipality acknowledges that no interviews have been conducted, possibly due to personnel changes. Furthermore, the subsidy granted by the municipality would be based on earlier amounts that the park received. In the past, the Smalspoor Museum already received a one -off subsidy of 30,000 euros.
This earlier support is now used as a starting point, which according to treasurer Hein Ruijgers is unjustified. “That was never the agreement. It was intended as temporary support, not as a benchmark for our future financing.”
Despite the rejection, the institution remains determined to make the professionalization stroke necessary in their eyes. “We still see opportunities along other ways, the municipality still has a game for incidental cultural expenses. We are going to appeal to that.”
Legal steps are not taken. “We discussed this with the municipality. We accept it, although it hurts a bit. We are one of the largest museums within the municipality of Emmen and have held ourselves to volunteers for forty years. We think that it deserves a lot of appreciation.”