Museum staff to move in a little later

FORT FRANCES—A slight delay in the availability of a new transformer for the Fort Frances Museum means staff won’t be moving back into the building until early January, instead of next month as originally planned.
“The contractors will essentially have everything else done by then,” museum curator Pam Hawley noted. “But they’ll have to check the systems once the transformer gets put in place.”
She noted while the new exhibits won’t be ready for the public to see until June, museum staff will be working at the renovated site shortly after moving back in, continuing to offer research services and public and school programming.
Hawley said the renovations are moving full-speed ahead.
“I’ve chosen carpets and tiles and paint colours,” she laughed. “By the beginning of December, they’ll be putting all that stuff in.”
The renovations include not only new floors, walls, fixtures, and furnishings, but new heating, ventilation, air conditioning, safety, security, and electrical systems.
A new receiving and shipping area also is being built on the south side of the building, along with a second entrance for the public.
The museum renovations, which began in September, are Phase One 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.
Phase Two of the plan includes:
•waterway development, including fort interpretation and relocating the Hallett and Lookout Tower to the riverfront;
•parkway and gateway linkage with signage and interpretive panels to guide people from Customs to the downtown area and the museum, and then onto the parkway to see the town’s heritage sites; and
•“streetscaping” and upgrading of the museum property, as well as the Scott Street/Victoria Avenue routes to the La Verendrye Parkway.
Hawley said work on Phase Two is underway, and consultants with Hilderman, Thomas, Frank and Cram were here recently to look at possible sites to relocate the Lookout Tower and Hallett as part of those plans.
She added a public open house regarding the Phase Two plans will be held in the new year.
(Fort Frances Times)