The Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre is thrilled to announce that it has raised the required initial funds to begin the first stage of its Phase Two Renewal project.
Preparatory work will commence by mid-summer 2023. This first stage will see significant changes to some of the current exhibits in order to make room for future renovation work.
The following areas of the museum will be affected: Roger Terhune Geology Building, the Bottle Room, the West Kootenay Power & Light Co. (WKPL) Wing, and the Ski Wing.
Roger Terhune Geology Building: In an effort to increase year-round access to the geological samples in our extensive geology collection, we are planning to display much of the collection in the coming Mine Experience exhibit spaces within the main museum building.
Select samples of significance to mining history and geological exploration will be temporarily relocated to the current Bottle Room space.
We will also be refreshing the Rossland geology display in the J.D. McDonald Hall. The remainder of the collection will be temporarily placed into storage but remain available for programming and research.
Roger Terhune’s collection and contributions to the Rossland Museum will continue to be honoured in this temporary geological display and in the new Mine Experience’s Assay Office.
Having access to the collection year-round will allow us to better protect, preserve, and present our renowned collection. This move will also enable us to continue to process and add specimens to our Community Portal (online collection database).
The initial move will also allow the current Roger Terhune Geology Building to transition to a much-needed, larger programming space for our popular summer programs like Camp Black Bear. This work will begin in mid-June.
Bottle Room: The bottle collection will be consolidated into one half of the current space to enable us to dynamically display our key geology specimens before the new exhibit spaces are ready.
Significant items in the bottle collection, including bottles from Rossland’s historic breweries, soda bottles, and important bottles from the 1890s-1920s will remain on display in a more locally-focused presentation. The remainder of the collection, including duplicates or generic bottles with unknown history, will be placed in storage.
West Kootenay Power & Light Wing: Key WKPL artifacts will be condensed into one of the large cases in the WKPL Wing. This change will accommodate the space needed for the Ski Wing’s core artifacts and stories.
WKPL artifacts unable to be displayed after the move will be placed into storage. In a future phase of the renewal project, the WKPL artifacts will be incorporated into a new industrial timeline exhibit. Artifacts on display will continue to be rotated periodically to ensure that the long and important history of the West Kootenay Power & Light Co. is sufficiently presented.
Ski Wing (formerly the Western Canada Ski Hall of Fame): The current location of the Ski Wing gallery space will become the centrepiece of the new Mine Tunnel Experience. To prepare for future renovations to this area, the artifacts in the Ski Wing will find temporary quarters in the available WKPL Wing display cases.
We will continue to honour the spirit of the Ski Wing by dynamically covering Rossland’s extensive ski history and notable Rossland skiers in these temporary spaces. Any artifacts not moved into the new location will be temporarily placed in storage until the new lifestyle area is developed in the Renewal Phase Two. We will start shifting this material into its new temporary location in late July.
In October 2023, we will launch “Gold Mining to Gold Medals: A Century of Skiing in Rossland,” a comprehensive digital exhibit on the history of ski racing on Red Mountain, which will further contribute to telling the long and vibrant story of skiing in Rossland.
This digital exhibit has been developed with support from Digital Museums Canada and the Trail & District Arts Council. Additionally, we will be updating the lodge display cases at Red Mountain in Fall 2023.
While all of these displays will be consolidated to fit into tighter, temporary quarters, no artifacts, context, stories, or historical information are expected to be compromised or permanently removed.
For more information about the Rossland Museum Renewal Project, please visit: www.rosslandmuseum.ca/renewal.