The World Famous Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington, Alta., closed last Tuesday as its owners seek a new home for the roadside attraction. The two historic buildings that house its exhibits need replacing, museum director Laural Kurta said. The hamlet is about 120 kilometres north of Calgary, and the museum announced its closure online earlier this week.

Kurta said the buildings can no longer provide the heat and humidity control required to protect the taxidermy. “We have done every patch repair, staple, spackle, everything we could possibly do,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “It is just at its end.”

“Nobody thought this place would last more than five years,” Kurta said. “The museum has now been open for 30, and it’s busier than ever.” The museum opened in 1996 in a century-old former schoolhouse connected by a small hallway to a grain elevator office.

Its exhibits feature stuffed Richardson’s ground squirrels, commonly called gophers in Western Canada, arranged in costumed dioramas. Scenes include a gopher in an Edmonton Oilers jersey playing hockey, a rodent blacksmith at an anvil, a Mountie, a bank robber, a three-gopher musical and medal-winning rodents on an Olympic dais.

Kurta’s parents helped establish the museum. Her mother ran it for 24 years before falling ill, after which a group of retired seniors volunteered to operate it until the COVID-19 pandemic. Kurta took over during the pandemic.

The museum began with a provincial startup grant and has supported itself since through admission fees by donation. The community has started an online fundraiser to build a replacement museum, with the hope of keeping it in Torrington. The attraction had delighted travellers for decades with its stuffed rodents in tiny costumes.

Based on reporting by Global News Edmonton.