The District of Tumbler Ridge is spearheading a grant proposal that, if successful, would see a $17-million, purpose-build museum here in Tumbler Ridge.
While the grant proposal was submitted by the District, the driving force behind the submission was the Tumbler Ridge Geopark. “We became aware of this Investing in Canada Infrastructure grant late last year through contacts with the province,” says Sarah Gamble, executive director for the Geopark. “People are aware of the long-term push to get a purpose built museum, and they felt this might be an opportunity for Tumbler Ridge.”
But because they found out about the grant with only about two months to pull the proposal together, it has been a very stressful time for Gamble. Fortunately, everybody in town is on board with the idea, she says. “The District and the Tumbler Ridge Museum Board both saw this as a great opportunity, and saw the value of submitting,” she says. “The actual grant was submitted through District, because if we submitted it, we would only be eligible for about 70 percent of the funding. With the district submitting, we are able to ask for 100 percent.”
She says the concept is a multi-disciplinary museum. “Curreltly there’s only one main Gallery in the Dinosaur Discovery Gallery,” says Gamble. “Part of that is due to the way the space is laid out. The concept as proposed would have four galleries. The main gallery would still focus on palaeontology. A second gallery would focus on indigenous people, while a third would focus on the geology and ecology of the area.”
The final gallery would be a Class A curatorial standard gallery, which would mean that it would be eligible to display touring artifacts from other museums, as well as things like regional art shows. “Having visiting displays mean you have repeat visitors, because you always have new stuff,” says Gamble.
In addition to the four galleries, the new museum would have a theatre. “This would give us a stage for productions, for events, but also for films. These could be program films, but also Hollywood films.”
The other main feature of the proposed museum would be a “community gathering space.” Gamble says this would be a place for the community to gather and meet and talk.
In the 1970s and 80s when Tumbler Ridge was being built, says Gamble, there were different protocols in place for consultation with local First Nations. “The Geopark territory is part of treaty 8 Territory and part of Kelly Lake territory. When TR was developed, it was looked at as empty country. That’s how it was promoted and it’s no wonder people still think this way. But we now know that this place has been used for 12,000 years, or as the First Nations would say ‘since time immemorial.’ Since reaching out to Treaty 8 and Kelly Lake and other nations with shared territory, we’ve had a very positive reception. In my professional role as an archeologist, I can say that many people have used this land, and we love to tell those stories.
What it doesn’t have, though, is a research and collection area. “The Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation board voted to keep the research and collection areas in current facility. The big reason for this is to keep proposed cost attainable. This was a recommendation from the Aldrich Pear Study.”
However, if the museum grant is successful, the design does have space for future development.
If it does go ahead, the new museum would be build next to the Visitor Centre. Gamble says having the museum downtown would make it an integral part of the community. “The goal here, and the goal of all Geopark is to tell the stories of the place, and that includes not just the indigenous history, but the town’s history, and see how it’s all interwoven. It’s about gathering space for all people.”
She says the process of creating the proposal was helped by the fact that this is something the town has been having formal consulting studies done on since 2006. “I was able to produce a document that summarized all these studies, as well as UNESCO for our Geopark, that showed professional opinions that a purpose built facility in the downtown core near the Visitor Centre would be a great move for the community and for economic development. One of the consultant was Aldrich Pears, and they are the Canadian experts for over 40 years in museum design and development. We also had to illustrate where this might align with the 94 calls to action for reconciliation, for the federal aspect, which also aligns with UNESCOs mandate, so it’s not a big stretch. We are already doing it.”
So, gathering together the proposal, and a dozen letters of support from the regional district, treaty 8 tribal association, neighbouring First Nations community and numerous local groups, Gamble was able to submit the proposal on time. “The summary of discussions itself was seven pages. The grant application was 93 questions, plus all the background work, so it’s a fairly intense process.”
But with the grant submitted, the work for mayor and council begins. “Now the work is allowing district representatives to do their work at the provincial level so there’s awareness within the provincial government. It’s a big ask. We recognize that, but we feel that Northeast BC doesn’t have anything like this, and we feel we’re worth it.”
Gamble expects radio silence from the government until the grant allocations are announced in September. Still, she is cautiously optimistic. “Given the tight timelines from when we heard about the projects to delivery, the way the three key organizations came together, as well as all the supporting organizations, makes me feel like this project can become a reality.”
