A $10 million expansion of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum is expected to “usher in a new era for one of the region’s most beloved cultural institutions,” and will enhance its ability to “showcase the rich history and vibrant culture of Niagara-on-the-Lake while providing an even more engaging experience for visitors of all ages.”
It’s been a long time in coming. Managing director and curator Sarah Kaufman first spoke to councillors in 2019, saying that the museum, founded in 1875 and housing one of the finest collections of early Canadian artifacts and archives in the most historic town in Canada, had outgrown its space.
She was asking for town support in applying for grants, and spoke of a fundraising component, necessary in order to obtain the grants expected to help fund the expansion.
But COVID intervened, and that was put on hold, until this week, when Kaufman announced plans to move forward.
The museum “has been a cornerstone of our community for over a century, preserving and celebrating the unique heritage of our historic town. This renovation and expansion project represents a significant investment in the preservation and presentation of our local history, art and culture for generations to come, says a recent news release.
Amy Klassen, the museum’s director of marketing and financing, recently took The Local, a sister publication of ThoroldToday, on a tour of the existing facility, explaining the changes to be made, which will provide more exhibition space; modernized facilities, including accessibility for all with an elevator; updated climate control, which is important to properly preserve artifacts; meeting space for special events; a larger gift shop area and a larger research room.
Starting at the entrance, the new welcoming centre will be straight ahead, where the gift shop is now, Klassen says, and to the left will be an expanded gift shop.
To the right will be the expanded research room for members of the public.
The biggest change will be a new addition to the existing space, which will be two floors, 6,225 square feet and built on to Memorial Hall. It will be the home of temporary exhibits, and will allow the museum to host travelling exhibits, explains Klassen.
It will also have a basement, which will connect to a new basement to be constructed under Memorial Hall, providing additional storage space.
The Link, the newest existing part of the museum, will continue to have a permanent exhibit — but something different, since it hasn’t been changed in years.
“We’ll be reaching out to the community to see what stories they would like to see told,” she says.
It already has storage and mechanicals in its basement, and will have a second storey to connect the existing portions and the addition to the museum, says Klassen, with an elevator to provide access to the second storey.
The existing exhibit space in Memorial Hall is now used for meetings and events — the cases are moveable — but it is small and awkward, she says. After the expansion it will be set up for events, including kids’ programs.
Originally, Klassen explained, the expansion was intended to be complete by 2025. Accessibility is a huge part of the work to be done, and the province has set accessibility compliance by 2025.
However, with the delay caused by the pandemic, it will likely be 2026, she says.
Volunteer and board secretary Ted Rumble explains why he believes this expansion is so important.
Like many others, Rumble’s interest in history is what drew him to NOTL 25 years ago, and to the museum.
He is best known around town as the finder of 200-year-old ordnance boundary stones — to date, 19 of the 37 stones have been found, the number one stone just recently. Used to mark the boundary between town land and military reserves, the stones are some of the oldest historical artifacts in the Old Town.
Rumble’s interest started with his home’s proximity to OBS 23 at the corner of Simcoe and Prideaux, which was intact, until broken by a town snowplow. Rumble says he used the research room on his quest to find more of the stones, but his connection to the museum goes back further than that.
He is also program coordinator for the very popular Famous & Infamous.
Sitting in the exhibition space in Memorial Hall, he outlines the reasons he believes the expansion is essential, the first of which is the need for what he calls presentation space, which is available in Memorial Hall, but requires moving exhibitions, setting up and taking away after events, provides a poor audio and visual experience, is crowded, “and is definitely not ideal.”
“The new presentation space will be state-of-the-art,” will open up the museum to the public for receptions, and to him, “is the most exciting part of the expansion. It will allow us to bring the community into the museum, into a far better space.”
The extra exhibition space is also important, he says. “It will allow us to share a lot more of our story, and we can also accept travelling exhibits from other museums.”
Accessibility is high on his list for the need for expansion. “This is an old building. We would like it to be accessible to everybody, including people who are disabled in any way.”
Having used the research space himself, he knows how small, cluttered and awkward it can be, and that as small as it is, members of the public are occasionally asked to leave the room so it can be used for meeting space.
“People come to research all kinds of things — their family, their home, local history. The expansion will offer them a proper space.”
Finally, he says, “we need space to store more artifacts. Additional space will allow us to store more, and to show more.”
Becoming involved in the museum, he says, “has been a wonderful experience for me. There is a great group of people here, with different responsibilities and involved in different programs.”
People who come to town as visitors tend to be people who are interested in history and the heritage of NOTL, he says. “Our heritage is a huge draw. People are fascinated with our past and how we preserve our heritage.”
The expansion, he says, will draw more awareness and more visitors to the museum. “The museum is a great illuminator for people who are newcomers to town and to visitors. NOTL is fertile ground for a museum like ours.”
And having more of it, “is very exciting, and will be fun for all of us.”
