A popular exhibition is returning to the Sidney Museum.
The 2022 edition of the annual LEGO Exhibition is opening on Jan. 2, running until March 31 with timed admission bookable through the museum’s website.
The exhibition, returning for its 16th year, features hundreds of LEGO building models. It first started when the museum’s former executive director Peter Garnham displayed sets he and his two sons, Jason and David, had built over the years.
In years past, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the exhibition would draw well over 10,000 people.
The 2021 edition of the event, which ran for five months, drew almost 3,600 guests, according to the 2021 annual report of the Sidney Museum and Archives Society. The museum also created videos on Facebook Live to give viewers a closer look at some of the displayed LEGO sets.
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Overall, the effects of COVID-19 looms large in the museum’s recent activities as described in the annual report.
“While achieving its highest visitation achieved for a single month ever in February 2020 at 5,263, Sidney Museum also experienced six months of record lows due to COVID-19,” it reads. “Sidney Museum is also seeing its lowest annual visitor numbers since the early 2000s (under 5,000) and currently stands at 3,996 as of (Sept. 31) 2021.”
These numbers require context as the museum closed for renovations between June 1 and Sept. 1, giving staff and volunteers time to tackle several projects.
Renovations included the refurbishment of the floor, workspace changes and the creation of additional storage rooms. The museum also installed new technology to complete a multi-year project to upgrade network wiring, security cameras and security computer terminal.
In terms of finances, the museum has been able to increase non-municipal support with earned revenues equalling 80 per cent of contributed revenues.
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