LAC LA BICHE — Off the beaten path and with numerous expansion constraints, the current home of the Plamdondon and District Museum is not ideal, say its supporters.
Representatives from Plamondon and District Museum Society and the Plamondon and District Community Development Society (PDCDS) approached Lac La Biche County council with a proposal to construct a new museum facility attached to Plamnondon’s Festival Centre.
The price tag associated with the move could be as high as $926,757, with volunteers seeking up to $400,000 from the County.
With the goal of seeing more foot traffic and creating a cultural hub, volunteers and board members with the museum and PDCDS are supporting the construction of a new building branching off the Festival Centre to be used as an expanded museum, benefiting both organizations.
The proposal brought to council would see an extension built on the west portion of the community centre, adding approximately 7,572 sq. ft. to the facility for the Plamondon museum. The new build would translate to an increase of 3,900 sq. ft. for daily museum operations from its current location.
The museum is currently leasing space from the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta (L’ACFA) and does not have the ability to expand in its current location.
Building a uniform and matching addition to the Festival Centre will require a financial contribution from the County ranging between $225,000 and $400,000 depending on provincial and federal grant funding that volunteers have already applied for.
Equipped with project blueprints, more than a dozen letters of support from residents, local politicians and businesses, and with the McArthur Place gallery filled with supporters, Vernon Plamondon, the construction committee director for the museum’s relocation project, outlined the need and benefits of relocating the Plamondon and District Museum.
According to Plamondon, an expanded space would allow for new artifacts to be displayed, as well as the unveiling of artifacts currently in storage due to limited space. In a larger space the museum’s collection would reflect the main cultures in the area, including Métis, Indigenous, Francophone and Old Believer Russian.
A genealogy station would be set up for individuals looking into local French and Indigenous lineage in the larger proposed facility. He adds, the additional space would also allow for a visitor lounge, a gift shop for local artisan works, and year-round staff who could provide travel information to visitors as well as tours of the museum and nearby Mini Parc Heritage site.
Wanting to keep a fresh look and focus on community with central proximity and local art filling the gift shop, Plamondon said “We don't want to become a dusty old museum... We'd like to be a real modern museum with old stuff.”
Museum had 400 visits this year
Challenges with the museum's current location away from the urban centre and lack of parking have been an ongoing issue for attracting out-of-town visitors, he adds.
“We'd get much more exposure due to the new location. The Festival Centre grounds attract over 9,000 visitors per year... If we estimate 10 to 15 per cent, that's 900 to 1,350 more visitors. Add that all together with our (400 visitors) we could quite easily hit 2,000,” he explained.
Second attempt
The Plamondon and District Museum Society had pitched this proposal to council earlier this year on Feb. 2, but the funding request was denied.
However, members of council saw value in the project as it aligned with recommendations from the 2013 Recreation, Parks and Open Space Master Plan for the Plamondon Region, which recommended developing the Festival Centre into a growing community hub.
For this reason, the society was asked to return to council with a formal presentation of their financial request and project proposal so it could be reconsidered for the 2022 municipal budget.
To further bolster the funding request, the PDCDS has fully endorsed this project as its number one priority and has indicated that a move to expand the Festival Centre would be the only capital grant request that board members would make to the County for the 2022 budget year.
The overall price of construction of the new museum is estimated to cost $926,757. The society has fundraised $210,00 to go towards the project and are waiting to hear if they will receive the federal Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF) of $490,000 and the provincial Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant of $125,000.
If the society is not successful in acquiring grants from provincial and federal levels, the group will need to find alternative means to raise any remaining costs. Whether the society receives these grants may play a role in whether the municipality will approve the project funding request in the upcoming November budget deliberations for 2022.
