Historic Miramichi homestead closed after province cuts funding

As the sun beats down on a hot July day, a cool breeze drifts off the mighty Miramichi River flowing past the fields of the MacDonald Farm.

But something is amiss. 

The grasses around the property appear to be overtaking the grounds, and the once lively site is beginning to feel abandoned. 

This summer, the farm built in the early 19th century, will not be running, a first for the site in more than a decade.

The province has owned MacDonald Farm since the 1970s, and ran it as a working farm interpretive centre until 2010.

Starting in 2012, the Highland Society of New Brunswick at Miramichi took over running the farm, with a provincial grant each year.

But this year, a disagreement over funding will keep it closed. 

"You don't see the actual beauty that lies here because it's quiet," said Dawn Lamkey MacDonald, president of the Highland Society of New Brunswick at Miramichi. "There are no children running around, there's no fiddlers playing on the stage, there's no piper playing.

"We are a completely volunteer committee that operates this site and we just felt that having to fight to keep this site open is not something that we have the energy to do anymore."

Since 2012, the society has received an annual grant of $60,000 from the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture. Last year, the grant increased to $100,000 in a one-year agreement, and this year, Lamkey MacDonald said, the board requested $150,000 because of rising costs.

But the department came back with its old offer of $60,000, which Lamkey MacDonald said isn't enough to run the farm. The board decided to reject the offer and to stop working with the province. 

Even if the government had come through with the requested funding, negotiations were left too late, she said.

Emails shared with CBC News from Lamkey MacDonald show her asking on March 14 to meet to discuss this year's budget. She said the society didn't get a response until May 30, when Melanie Deveau, the assistant deputy tourism minister, lined up a meeting for June 2. 

Lamkey MacDonald said the group usually begins to plan for the summer in April and prepares the property in May to open for school trips June 1. The full public normally can begin to visit by the third week of June.