An online fundraiser is raising money to pay for repair work on the set of Random Passage in New Bonaventure.

The set was kept open as a tourist attraction after it was built for the 2002 CBC TV miniseries based on Bernice Morgan's historical novel, which follows a family's move from England to the barren island of Newfoundland.

In the beginning, it was a big draw for tourists and fans of the book and TV show, but these day the amount of people who come visit is a fraction of what it once was, said operations manager Connie Tobin

She's one of around 14 people who work at Random Passage any given summer. Tobin said that if the site doesn't get much needed repairs soon, it will start to decline even more

"We've lost our wharf twice. We've lost our stages. We've had to repair and build a new stage," she said.

"So if we keep losing things there's gonna be nothing left."

Not enough funding for upkeep

While the provincial government supplies the site's operators with about $15,000 each year, and admission helps pay wages and some upkeep, Tobin said that's not nearly enough to pay for any of the necessary repairs.

"We got money a few years ago to repair some of the houses and rebuild, actually rebuild one of the houses, but now it's time for major repairs again and if we don't get those done, I'm afraid of what's going to happen to the site."

A summer shot of the site where Random Passage was filmed. (Photo courtesy Elaine Strong)

Some of the needed repairs include a new roof for the set's church, and minor fixes to buildings damaged by the wear and tear of winter.

A GoFundMe page is aiming to raise at least $5,000 to pay for the necessary fixes, but Tobin acknowledges that the total costs of the repairs likely will be much more than that.

Few may have expected the Random Passage set to still be active 17 years after the miniseries was filmed near Trinity, but Tobin believes it's an important landmark.

"It's a story that needs to be told," she said. "We get a lot of school kids come to our site at the beginning of our season when we open and that tells the story of our ancestors."