SELKIRK—The long-term sustainability and preservation of Selkirk’s iconic Cottonwood Mansion Museum may lay in a partnership with Haldimand County, according to Cottonwood Manager and Curator Iona Whatford.
Whatford gave a presentation to Council on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 outlining the reality of Cottonwood’s financial position while providing three options for how the County might get involved to help keep the doors open.
“Cottonwood is not only a heritage landmark, but also a growing cultural and tourism asset for our region, and we are at a bit of a crossroads,” said Whatford.
Built in the 1860s, Cottonwood has been owned and operated by the Cottonwood Mansion Preservation Foundation since 1993, when it was fully restored and opened as a public site.
Whatford is the only paid staff member of the site, which is otherwise entirely volunteer-driven.
“Our mission is to safeguard Cottonwood Mansion by collecting, preserving, and interpreting the building, its grounds, and artefacts. We aim to create a living museum that invites the public to immerse themselves in the Victorian and Edwardian eras,” she said. “Through this experience, we aspire to inspire visitors to become lifelong learners and community advocates.”
She said that despite the efforts of volunteer organizations, historic buildings across the country are disappearing at an “alarming rate.”
“Over the past 30 years, Canada has lost about 23% of its historic buildings in urban areas and about 21% in rural areas. When heritage is lost, it’s lost forever. With it, a part of our identity becomes a little bit less known,” said Whatford.
Cottonwood draws approximatey 4,500 unique visitors per year, offering an array of events, tours, private rentals, experiences, and education programming that raises funds toward its preservation. This includes a Victorian Houseguest Experience that draws visitors from across Canada and the United States.
Whatford noted a 34% increase in visits since 2021, with 82% of those generating from outside Haldimand. She listed an estimated annual economic impact driven by that tourism of around $1 million a year.
Between 38 public events and an average of 14 private rentals a year, there is hardly a weekend that passes where the site is not being used and enjoyed by a wide range of people.
That largely volunteer-driven effort generates approximately $90,000 a year in revenue, in addition to over $300,000 in grant funding the site has received for capital works projects since 2022.
“We are working hard to sustain ourselves,” said Whatford. “The average museum site in Ontario is responsible for bringing in approximately 14% of their overall budget, but Cottonwood has been able to bring in between 60-70% of our budget.”
Still, unavoidable cost increases in recent years have increased the deficit between revenue and operational costs to the point where additional support is needed for the site to continue.
Whatford gave three options to Council on how Haldimand could step in:
- Fully adopt the site as a municipal museum, similar to Caledonia’s Edinburgh Square, at a cost of around $250,000 per year.
- Take ownership of the building and cover its operational costs, while providing a recurring capital grant at a cost of around $185,000 per year.
- Fully fund the site’s manager position through a discretionary fund while the site continues to operate independently at a cost of around $75,000 a year.
Whatford said that all three options would close the current deficit impacting the site’s current sustainability.
“We know these asks are not insignificant. Every tax dollar needs to be well spent, but at its core, these amounts come to an investment range of less than 0.1-0.3% of County’s total budget. A small amount required to save one of Haldimand’s more significant tourism and heritage assets,” said Whatford. “We are asking for your partnership, to invest in Cottonwood so it can remain a place of history, culture, and community for generations to come.”
Councillor Patrick O’Neill asked if Whatford’s request had a current precedent in County spending.
Interim County CAO Mark Merritt said the County doesn’t provide financial support – particularly operating funds – of any kind to any charitable organization in Haldimand.
“We do have some programs under (Community Improvement Plans) that would support heritage projects or properties in general across the county, and we do provide tax rebates to Cottonwood…. Any type of financial support would be precedent setting,” Merritt said.
Councillors asked questions related to revenue generation, such as the cost for guests to access the site, providing higher-end experiences that drive higher entry fees, or utilizing space within the museum for alternate uses, such as daycare space.
“We run an average of 38 events a year. These are typically all ticketed events that run on average $15 to $135 per ticket, depending on the event and the time required,” said Whatford. “We’ve kind of maxed out our ability to bring in more revenue generating events and run more revenue generating events. We simply don’t have more calendar space.”
She said the foundation has considered a bed and breakfast option at the site, but between the added operational and staffing expenses and the cost of insurance, it was not feasible.
Whatford touted the Victorian experience as a way the foundation has gotten creative in recent years.
“These programs, when built well and run properly, can bring in quite a number of people from outside the region. Close to 30% of the attendees to that program this year came from the US. That was thanks to marketing dollars that were put in by County Tourism, but also Ontario Southwest, who designated us a signature experience,” she said.
Responding to a question from Councillor Brad Adams on how dire Cottonwood’s finances currently are, Whatford said, “We have runway; we’re thinking ahead with this ask, but we don’t have a year’s worth of costs in our bank right now. We don’t have that.”
She also noted that while the foundation has a good sense of the work that will need to be done to the site in the next five years, including restoration work to the belvedere and new storm windows, Cottonwood is overdue for “another big overlook on the site,” with the last major renovations completed in the 1990s.
Council accepted Whatford’s report and committed to returning at the Tuesday, October 14 meeting with a motion directed at exploring her requests more fully.
Stay tuned to The Press for follow-up coverage as available.
