After closing in 2015, the future of the Dionne Quints Museum in North Bay remains in limbo.
When the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce relocated to the city’s downtown core in 2015, it also ceased operating the museum and North Bay’s Regional Tourist Information Centre. The future of the local landmark now lies in the city’s lap.
The city wants relocate the museum — the original farmhouse in which the Dionne quintuplets were born in 1934 — so it can redevelop the valuable land on which it’s situated at the junction of Highways 11 and 17.
On Jan. 16, city council reviewed a report that recommends moving the homestead to Strong Township, located south of North Bay, and divesting the associated artifacts amongst various organizations through the area.
When surveyed, no one organization agreed to take responsibility for the farmhouse, and it was estimated it would cost the city between $125,000 and $175,000 annually to operate it.
For years, the house was a key tourist attraction, but figures show attendance at the museum dropped from 15,000 visitors in 1987 to just 3,000 in 2015. The Chamber had run a deficit for several years to keep it open.
There has also been a history of exploitation associated with the Dionne quintuplets — Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie and Marie — since their birth captured the world’s attention.
The sisters were removed from their parents’ care at four months old and made wards of the state. They were returned to their family’s care nine years later, but only after the province, and even their own family, made millions of dollars from putting the girls on display to a curious public.
The city is slated to take a final vote on the museum’s future on Jan. 23.
