The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Steve Crocker, Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation:

Speaker, I rise today to highlight the amazing work that is being done by the staff and leadership at The Rooms in preserving, celebrating and sharing our province’s unique history and culture.

Since 2020, the Board of Directors, led by Chair Margaret Allan, and the staff, led by Chief Executive Officer Ann Chafe, have made it their singular purpose to bring attendance and membership back to pre-pandemic levels – and they have more than succeeded!

For 2022-23, attendance and memberships at our provincial museum, archives and art gallery were higher than they’ve ever been.

The Rooms welcomed more than 129,000 visitors last year, and more than 2,000 people purchased annual memberships.

With more than 70,000 visitors this summer, The Rooms is on track to welcome more than 130,000 people in 2023-24.

Special events to mark Come Home 2022, as well as collaborations with groups such as the Association for New Canadians, Music NL and Memorial University, which offered a wide array of programming that appealed to a diverse audience of local and non-resident visitors, contributed to this success.

The Rooms also offered curriculum-linked programming in person and online for more than 15,000 K-12 students this year, and every Friday they offer free admission to post-secondary students.

As we plan to celebrate The Year of the Arts in 2024, I look forward to the important role The Rooms will play in making it a success.

I ask all of my colleagues to join me in celebrating the wonderful contributions of those at The Rooms who work so hard to share the incredible stories of our province and its people.