2007 — Fall
Here We Grow Again
The long awaited day has finally arrived. As of November 9th,
2007 we have acquired the 32 Talbot Street building. The location,
formerly known as the Elgin County Pioneer Museum was vacated by
the County of Elgin many months past. The County moved their
operation to the 4th floor of the County Administration building,
and with the new location came a new name, the Elgin County
Museum.
Our planning committee has met several times in the past year
and is looking forward to the challenges of putting the new
acquired property to good use. Plans for the permanent use of the
building have not been defined yet, but will come about through
more work on the committee's part and staff input.
The first plans are to have a series of public meetings to find
interested parties to help identify uses and funding for the
structure. Already several ideas have been floating around amongst
our members including several ideas that may have us enhancing our
mandate.
Our working title for the building is "The Duncombe House
Heritage Centre." What will be inside the "Centre" is sure to be a
hot topic of discussion at upcoming meetings.
Some of the initial ideas include; expanding the military exhibits,
a larger Hall of Honour, enhanced reference and research
facilities, improved artifact storage, a Jumbo Exhibit or even a
Sports Hall of Fame.
Needless to say funding is of prime concern. No clear plan for
use can commence until a stable funding plan for the property is in
place. As for now most of the building will be 'mothballed' and
will remain so as our funding plans develop.
This does not mean the new space won't be used as needs demand.
The 2007 Rotary Club Tour of Homes, recently used the newer part of
the structure on November 10th and 11th as an the site for hot
cider and cookies (and a tour of the museum). Over 850 attended the
event, giving an endless stream of people both days.
Plans also exist to utilize some areas for storage, so we can
work on planned improvements to storage areas in our original
location. Reference books and files may also soon be moved to
larger work areas upstairs, a long overdue item and another part of
the 'storage shuffle'.
Now is the time for you to have your say in planning the future of
both our museum and the "Duncombe House Heritage Centre". We need
your input on what we should do, how we can do it, and, equally
importantly, how we can generate the funding to continue for the
next twenty five years.