City of Cambridge gives Fashion History Museum more time to move out

The Bead Goes On at the Fashion History Museum in 2023. (Submitted/museum staff)

The City of Cambridge is giving the Fashion History Museum (FHM) additional time to clear out of their building on Queen Street East where they’ve been since 2015.

Earlier this month, the city announced it was ending the museum’s lease, citing approximately $140,000 in unpaid rent.

Museum staff were initially given 14 days to move everything out of the building. The museum’s curators also lived on-site in a second-floor apartment suite.

In a social media post on Thursday morning, museum staff asked for more time and urged their supporters to write to city officials requesting an extension beyond the March 31 deadline.

“As you might expect, it’s difficult to pack and move a collection of over 11,000 artifacts, 7,000 books, mannequins, furnishings and all logistical elements a museum needs to function on such short notice,” the post read, in part.

A second post, made moments later, encouraged followers to directly contact the city’s liaison for arts and culture.

The city said, in a news release Thursday, museum staff first made their request Tuesday at 1:19 p.m.

“Simultaneously, the FHM launched an unnecessary campaign requesting that members of the public contact city staff and members of council to request an extension to the 14-day timeline to vacate,” it said. “City staff were, and are, prepared to grant the museum’s request for additional time through a permission to enter agreement and public input was not necessary. The City of Cambridge has been fair and reasonable throughout this process and appreciates the need for additional time to vacate and make alternate arrangements. The city has been flexible throughout this process and had already informed FHM staff that they will have access to the space until May 19, as originally requested by the chair of the Fashion History Museum.”

Reaction from the community

Several members of the public have expressed their disappointment with the city’s decision to end the museum’s lease.

“If it’s about keeping this open so the arts thrive, then for $140,000, with I don’t know how many people live in Cambridge now, I think we figure that out,” longtime Cambridge resident Bryce Macey told CTV News on Monday.

“I am gutted by this news,” wrote Donna Sneddon in a Facebook post. “I can’t even imagine how you both are feeling. Fourteen days to clear out shows how little the City of Cambridge knows about your museum!”

An online fundraising campaign to help safeguard the museum’s collection had raised more than $8,000 by Thursday afternoon. The campaign’s goal was set at $40,000.

With reporting from Spencer Turcotte