ABOYNE – Prohibition could soon come to an end at the Wellington County Museum & Archives.
Centre Wellington council has authorized staff to send a letter to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario requesting a property exemption regulation for the Wellington County Museum & Archives (WCMA) and other civic spaces to serve alcohol on-site.
Approved at a council meeting Monday afternoon, a staff report said as the WCMA hosts several events throughout the year where alcoholic beverages are served and consumed, they believe it would be "more effective" for the WCMA to apply for a permanent liquor license rather than continue applying for special occasion permits.
According to prohibition rules, the former township of Nichol, where the WCMA is located, is considered "dry" and cannot change its status unless the township submits the question of a municipal election ballot following a petition signed by at least 25 per cent of electors or through appealing the Lieutenant Governor in council for a specific property exemption.
WCMA and Wellington Place administrator Jana Burns previously said there was a motion to change the township’s dry status in 1981 but the process was never completed or brought to a vote.
Two premises within Centre Wellington have been exempted from the prohibition status: the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex and the Grand River Raceway.
Staff also said although their records are incomplete, it appears the former township of West Garafraxa succeeded in holding a plebiscite in 1985.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program
