Museum in process of moving Renovations set for June

With extensive renovations slated to start this summer, Fort Frances Museum staff are working hard to move everything out of the building by June 1.
“We’re clearing the entire place out,” museum superintendent Pam Hawley noted Thursday, adding all of the artifacts, displays, and more are being packed up and moved to the old North American Lumber store on Mowat Avenue (next to Fort Duty-Free).
This will be location of the museum and its collection during the renovations, which are expected to take roughly six months, Hawley said.
Due to funding guidelines, the museum must remain open in some capacity year-round, and have at least some artifacts on display as well as staff to give information to anyone who comes to the museum (e.g. tourists).
Sandra Tibbs, the interim museum superintendent while Hawley is on leave, and summer student Tracy Treflin have been working for the past couple of weeks packing and moving the museum’s inventory.
In order to make the move a little easier, Tibbs noted the museum will be having a garage sale during the International Early Iron Car Club’s “Scott Street Show ’n Shine” on Saturday, May 20.
At this sale, the museum will be selling off some furnishings, boards, and other items that may be of particular interest to handymen and hobbyists.
Hawley noted there likely will be a special opening of the temporary location on May 31 to let the public know that will be the spot to go for the next six months.
In the meantime, extensive renovations will be going on at the museum. The work will include adding an entrance to the south of the building, as well as a small addition there to alleviate receiving, crating, and shipping problems.
There also will be changes to the existing building to alleviate circulation and exhibition space problems. New heating, ventilation, air conditioning, safety, security, and electrical systems will be installed, too.
“The whole building’s being redone—from stem to stern,” said Tibbs. “When we’re finished, we’ll have a building that’s environmentally-friendly to the collection.”
The total cost of these renovations is expected to be around $900,000.
Tibbs noted the collection then will be moved back into the main building by the end of this year, at which time it will be organized into new displays.
An intern is being hired this summer in order to develop and construct exhibits over a one-year period.
In related news, fundraising for the museum renovations continues. Hawley noted the campaign is just $17,708 short of its goal of $75,000 from community groups and individuals.
The fundraising committee, spearheaded by former mayor Glenn Witherspoon, has been working since last spring to raise funds to help renovate the museum, and Hawley expects donations to pick up even more once the renovations get underway.
The campaign also has received contributions from local partners such as the Chamber of Commerce and Business Improvement Association ($25,000 each).
The town has a dedicated reserve of $420,000 towards the project, and government sources, such as the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp., have contributed significant dollars.
The museum renovations are part of a larger heritage tourism plan devised by the consulting firm of Hilderman, Thomas, Frank and Cram—a $2,725,974 project that has designated the museum as the centrepiece of a tourism strategy designed to draw visitors to the downtown area and riverfront.
The plan also includes parkway and gateway linkage with signage and interpretive panels, “streetscaping,” upgrading of the museum courtyard and the Scott Street/Victoria Avenue routes to the La Verendrye Parkway, and waterway development, including fort interpretation and relocating The Hallett and Lookout Tower to the riverfront.
The newly-renovated museum and gateway then would be marketed via a joint tourism marketing strategy with regional museums and historical centres, such as the Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre (Manitou Mounds) and the museum over in International Falls.