This weekend at the Museum!

This weekend, the Museum brings you two events to take part in. We will start off on Saturday at 1:30 pm with the Jane's Walk. Following the walk, at 3:00 pm, the Museum is hosting a coffee session to gather information and stories about Heritage Buildings and Places in the Town of Peace River.


According to the Jane's Walk website, "Jane's Walk is a movement of free, locally led walking tours inspired by Jane Jacobs. The walks get people to explore their cities and connect with neighbours." Unlike traditional walking tours, the Jane's Walk is build on a premise of discovery and conversation, with participants being encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas. It isn't just about listening to the leaders talk!


Our Jane's Walk will be led by Laura Gloor, Museum Coordinator, Kate Churchill, Planner with Mackenzie Municipal Planning Service, Robin Barnes, Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, and Kate Morrison, Community Development Enthusiast. Join us at the Museum at 1;30 pm to take a stroll down 99th Street and share your thoughts about planning, environment and history in our community.


After the walk, join us at the Museum to have some coffee or hot chocolate, and bring your knowledge about heritage buildings and places in our town. The Heritage Places Committee is currently working on an interactive map of the Town of Peace River, circa 1924. Once finished, this map will be accessible for all on the Town's website.


This Saturday, we hope to add to the information we have the 1924 map but we are also looking to collect information, stories and photographs from other decades as well, in particular the 1960s and 1970s. Join us from 3 - 4:30 pm.

Take an Interpretive Walk with the Museum

This upcoming Monday, February 17, 2014, join the Heritage Places Committee (HPC) and the Museum on a winter stroll along 86th Avenue in Peace River.

The third Monday in February, since 1990, has been known to Albertans as Family Day. It is an opportunity to spend time with family and sharing personal histories has a great way of bringing people together. It also happens to be History Day across Canada.  Families and history are a natural pairing. We invite you and your family to walk with us and learn why the Parkview Subdivision (86th Avenue), a post-war subdivision in Peace River's north end has historic significance to our community.  This neighbourhood, conceived, financed and built by local businessman Oscar Moro, was built between 1958 and 1962.

In post-war times, the idea of suburban development was relatively new, and, as yet, unheard of in Peace River. Mr. Moro, though, realized that this subdivision would use previously underutilized land, provide affordable housing to returning veterans and alleviate the housing crisis that was occurring in Peace River.  It was a time of prosperity influenced by much oil and gas exploration in the Peace Country and it was those families that in large part become the first homeowners.

We will meet at the parking area across from the Kinsmen Funland park at 1:30 pm. Please dress for the weather and bring your family and your friends.

For more information, please call the Museum at 780-624-4261 or email us at museum@peaceriver.net.

A transition on 86th Avenue from the 1950s to the 2010s. 

Heritage 101 - How to care for a building with historic character

The Museum and the Heritage Places Committee are hosting "Heritage 101" this Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at Athabasca Hall, from 7 - 9 pm.

Heritage 101 is a unique workshop for anyone who owns or works with older home or who appreciates historic architecture. In this workshop, Laura Pasacreta and Chelsea Dunk of Donald Luxton & Associates, Heritage Consultants, will take you through the following topics:
1. Why conserve older buildings?
2. An overview of Peace River's architecture.
3. Peace River's Heritage Conservation Program including our regulatory framework as well as the role of the Heritage Resources Committee and granting.
4. Planning for a Heritage Project, including basic techniques for restoring houses including siding, window restoration and historic colours, etc.

The Town of Peace River's Heritage Places Committee, coordinated by the Peace River Museum, has contracted Donald Luxton & Associates for the last 3 years to conduct inventories of heritage buildings and landscapes, as well as creating the framework for property owners of heritage buildings to apply to Town Council for Municipal Heritage Site designation. This program is funded by the Town of Peace River, with grant support from The Alberta Historical Resources Foundation.  

Heritage 101 is being offered in Athabasca Hall, one of Peace River's unique heritage treasures. This building was built in 1936 with funds provided by an anonymous donor in England to the Anglican Church for a community hall. The Town is still appreciative of this donor 77 years later. This building has since been a renowned venue for theatrical and musical performances, with almost 50 years of Peace Players productions gracing the stage.

St. James Anglican Cathedral and Athabasca Hall, circa late 1940s 

Walking Tours to celebrate Heritage Day - August 5, 2013

Heritage Day is August 5th, 2013! This annual Albertan holiday was created in 1974 by the Alberta Government in order to celebrate the cultural heritage of Alberta and all of its people. This day is celebrated each year on the first Monday in August.

Staff at the Museum and Archives are celebrating our local heritage in style, by offering three separate Historic Walking Tours for Heritage Day. You can learn so much by taking a stroll - things you may walk by everyday but never think twice about! Now, you get the chance to get some of those questions answered by joining us on one or all of these historic walks.

The schedule is as follows:

               11am   Learn about the Pioneers of the Peace with a tour of Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.  Meet at the cemetery.

              1:30pm   The town’s built heritage will be the focus of a stroll along the historic streetscape of 102 Street.  Meet at the Museum.

 

               1 - 4pm   Interpretive tours of the NAR Station - drop by anytime.

Dress for the weather as tours will go rain or shine! No pre-registration required.

 

For more information on the tours, please contact the Museum at 780-624-4261 or www.peacerivermuseum.blogspot.com or www.peaceriver.ca

 

 

Heritage Places Open House at Peacefest

This Saturday, during Peacefest 2013, the Heritage Places Committee (HPC) will be on hand, ready to answer any questions you might have about heritage buildings and landscapes in town. Information about the heritage places designation process and the work that has been completed to date by the Committee and the heritage consulting firm Donald Luxton and Associates, can be viewed.

The HPC would like to collect any stories and information that you may have about heritage properties in town to help us appreciate the families and businesses associated with each place. Or, maybe you have a suggestion for a heritage property that we should study in the future.

This Municipal Heritage Places Program started in Peace River 3 years ago. The first year, we studied 10 properties, including such places as Mount Pleasant Cemetery, the Telegraph Office and Athabasca Hall. This year, the program continues with 12 new properties for study, including The Ground Level Youth Centre, Ruth Kidder’s home and Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church.

If you have any stories to share about heritage properties, stop by and see our committee members from 11 am to 6 pm at Riverfront Park, this Saturday, July 13, 2013.

This Old House: Caring for Peace River's Historic Homes

The Town of Peace River, along with the Peace River Museum's Heritage Places Committee have been working over the past two years on preserving Peace River's historic buildings and sites. For more information on our efforts, please see these blogs. Northern Sunrise County has also embarked on a heritage survey and inventory this year. Both municipalities are working with consultants, Donald Luxton & Associates, to identify and promote the Peace country's built heritage.

We now want to begin giving homeowners and building industry workers in Peace River the knowledge to care for their own historic homes! A speaker series with heritage consultants from Donald Luxton & Associates will begin this month. The first presentation will be  Wednesday, April 3 at 7 pm at one of our own historic buildings - the Athabasca Hall.

This presentation will outline heritage conservation in the modern world and how it applies to the Peace River context. It will discuss some basic conservation principles that a building owner can do to improve energy efficiency and preserve the historical integrity of their home.

There is no charge for this event!

This is a highly recommended presentation for anyone in the construction and related trades and those who own historic homes.

 

St. James Anglican Church and Athabasca Hall, ca. 1940s.

 

 

 

Peace River's Built Heritage

Peace River's Main Street, 1916

The Town of Peace River Council recently passed a Municipal Heritage Management Policy! An established application process is now in place for property owners who want to protect their building through Municipal heritage designation. This document demonstrates Council’s commitment to preserving the Town’s built heritage. Our built heritage includes buildings and landscapes within the town limits.

The people behind this Heritage Policy are the Museum staff and the Heritage Places Committee which is comprised of six community members who have dedicated time and energy to identify and research historically significant places over the past three years.  The committee consists of Karen Rumball, Audrey Randall, Norm Brownlee, John Clarke, Judy Bowcott, Ken Herlinveaux, Beth Wilkins, Megan Purcell and Laura Gloor.  It was formed in 2010, with a matching grant from the Municipal Heritage Partnership Program with Alberta Historic Sites (www.mhpp.ab.ca)  and since has developed promotional material for prospective property owners, visited sites, photographed places, conducted research and interviews and promoted this community-based project at Open Houses, Trade Shows, and to Town Council and organizations. With the permission of their owners, ten places were studied in 2011 for their heritage value and ten more will be selected in 2013. The 2011 list can be found on our website www.peacerivermuseum.com

This year the Committee will be offering historic walks about the town to showcase some of this built heritage and with the help of heritage consultants at Donald Luxton & Associates will consult with the community through open houses and a speaking series about practical ideas of caring for your vintage home.  The first of the series will be April 3^rd, 7pm.

If you have suggestions for the Committee to consider, your input will be welcomed! You can post your idea here on our blog or on our online Survey .  If you have any questions, please feel free contact one of the committee members or the Museum (780-624-4261 or museum@peaceriver.net).

Thank you to our community!

The Town of Peace River's Heritage Places Committee and the Peace River Museum would like to thank everyone who came out to the pancake breakfast this past Saturday. Through your support, we were able to raise over $1500 towards the preservation of heritage sites in Peace River. We would also very much like to thank the AUPE (Alberta Union of Provincial Employees) who contributed the remaining monies to make our fundraising total $2000! Through the matching funds with the Municipal Heritage Partnership Program, this translates into $4000!

To view some of the already studied historic sites, please visit: http://www.peaceriver.net/images/stories/Museum/2012_02_22_museum.pdf (Note: This is a large pdf and may require some time to download.)

If you know of a historically significant building or site in Peace River, please let us know using this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9NTHZRJ

If you have any other questions regarding this program and the work being done by the Town of Peace River, please contact the Museum at 780-624-4261 or email us at museum@peaceriver.net.

We truly appreciate the support of our community in preserving and sharing Peace River's rich history!

Pancake Flipping at Peace Fest!

The Town of Peace River and the community representatives for the Heritage Places Committee are working hard to promote and protect heritage buildings and sites within the town.
We are pleased to have been asked to participate in this years annual PeaceFest pancake breakfast at the Peace Country Co-op on Saturday, July 14th from 8:30 - 11 am. Our Heritage Places Committee will be grilling and flipping and serving up a storm and would greatly appreciate your support!
The funds earned will help the committee and Town of Peace River to inventory significant heritage places within the town.

Heritage Buildings Open House

This Thursday, May 10th, the Museum will be hosting an Open House about the town's Municipal Heritage Places program which is in development.

The Town’s Heritage Places Committee will be in attendance, along with heritage professionals who will explain municipal heritage designation and review a draft of the application process that the Town will eventually administer.

We are also asking residents to stop by to make their suggestions about historic places in Peace River that are significant to our history. If you know of a historic site or building within Peace River and are unable to attend, we have an online survey that can be filled out and submitted to us here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9NTHZRJ

Peace River is a town rich with history and we encourage everyone to come out this Thursday, May 10th between 4 and 7 pm to help us preserve and manage these unqiue sites!

Municipal Heritage Survey

In 2011, the Museum, the Heritage Buildings Committee and the Town of Peace River hired Donald Luxton and Associates with a grant from the Alberta Municipal Heritage Partnership Program.

Through this grant and the hard work of our committee, we were able to study 10 historic buildings in Peace River. The link for the report can be seen here. (NOTE: It is a large pdf document and may need sometime to download fully.)

This year, the Museum and Committee would like to keep the momentum going! We are asking you to suggest buildings that are at least 50 years old that hold a historic importance to our community. It may be the design of the building, the person(s) who lived there, the business(es) which operated there or a specific architectural feature, which gives you the sense of history of our community.

Preserving a diversity of structures in our community not only conserves and showcases the historical evolution of Peace River, but it also makes our neighborhoods more appealing and engenders community pride.

If you have suggestions, the survey can be filled out here. Paper surveys will also be available around town and can be mailed to or dropped off at the Museum at 10302 99th Street Peace River, Alberta  T8S 1K1.

If you have any questions, please call the Museum at 780-624-4261.