Angie MacIsaac is having a bustling day at the Strait Area Museum, guiding a bus tour from the United States about the Canso Causeway’s history. Across the rotary in Port Hastings, N.S., an abandoned building once housed the Visitor Information Centre before it was closed in February due to provincial budget cuts.

To address the closure, MacIsaac and her museum team have launched a one-year trial project for a “community visitor information centre” to assist tourists visiting Cape Breton. They aim to fill the void left by the shuttered centre and transform the museum into a permanent welcoming hub for visitors.

Following the closure announcement, Destination Cape Breton, a tourism advocacy group, mobilized the island’s municipalities to fund a scaled-back reopening of the centre. Nova Scotia Public Works disclosed plans in mid-July to demolish the former visitor centre and a nearby gift shop to pave the way for a new roundabout by 2029.

In the interim, the museum’s lobby now showcases brochures previously available at the visitor centre, with the province designing new highway signs to guide tourists. MacIsaac and the Port Hastings Historical Society are providing training to society members and other volunteers, as student staff will wrap up their duties at the museum by the end of August.

MacIsaac envisions the museum becoming the primary point of contact for Cape Breton visitors, emphasizing the importance of extending a warm Cape Breton welcome. While no direct funding is provided by the province for this initiative, the historical society can seek support through the province’s Community Visitor Information Centre funding program.

Local accommodation owners in Cape Breton, like Yvette MacPhee of Ocean View Motel and Chalets in Chéticamp, support the museum’s efforts, citing the success of community-operated visitor centres in other areas. MacPhee highlights the necessity of visitor centres due to limited cell coverage in Cape Breton, often leaving travelers stranded without lodging options.

The community-driven approach of the Strait Area Museum aligns with similar successful models in St. Peter’s, Baddeck, and Chéticamp, providing essential support to visitors navigating Cape Breton’s unique tourism landscape.

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