Volunteers who work at a downtown Winnipeg museum say they're afraid the establishment may be closing its doors for good.

The Dalnavert Museum closed abruptly just before Labour Day.

Little information has be provided on the closure, but volunteers said they believe it may be money related.

"We're losing a part of Winnipeg's history that we just can't get back," said Venessa Warne, who has been volunteering at the museum for the past three years. "If this place becomes a dentist's office, we lose a part of our history, and we lose an important educational resource."

The Dalnavert is a designated National Historic Site of Canada and the home of former Manitoba Premier Sir Hugh John MacDonald, who was the son of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.

It was restored and opened to the public in 1974.

"Kids can read about Winnipeg in the 1890s all they want…but if you take a group of young people through this place, the educational experience is incomparable," said Warne.

The Dalnavert is owned and operated by the Manitoba Historical Society.