Historical Society votes to close the museum and go Back to the Future

Above: Musée Morinville Museum Curator Donna Garett holds back her emotions as she packs up the old bell Monday morning. The Historical Society voted to close down in a special meeting Saturday.

– Morinville News Photo

by Morinville News Staff

The Morinville Historical and Cultural Society has decided to pack up its collection of regional artefacts and call it a day. After a six-hour board meeting Mar. 28, the society, which has run the Musée Morinville Museum for several years, voted 6-2 in favour of wrapping up the relics and trying something different.

“We’re futurists at heart,” said Historical and Cultural Society member Murray Knight. “People keep coming in here to see these old relics, but we’ve decided we’ve had enough of showing that stuff and want to do something different. So we’re going to close down for three months and reopen as a completely new kind of tourist attraction, one that shows what stuff will look like in the future. That’s what we are interested in and, young fella, that’s what we’re going to do.”

But not everyone on the board was in agreement. Historical Society member Barry Turner vehemently opposed the closure, set to take place this Friday. Turner, who is now Deputy Mayor, was set to cut the ribbon on a new exhibit of his beard clippings from each of his six terms on Council. Turner said the exhibit was to be a legacy for his children, particularly his oldest child, NDP candidate Tristan Turner, who just started shaving last week.

Turner and another board member, who would not grant Morinville News an interview and asked that their name stay out of the paper, were in the minority on Saturday’s vote. The Historical and Cultural Society will proceed with
the closure and reopen on Canada Day, a date the society has celebrated in St. Jean Baptiste Park for several years.

Knight said he hoped Morinvillians would come out on the grand reopening day to see the new futuristic exhibits — a Model T Ford, wringer washer sewing machine, wool garments and black and white photos of the Town’s founding families.

When asked about the similarity between the current collection and what is being proposed as a futuristic exhibit, Knight was adamant that the collection would be purely about the future.

“With the economy going to complete crap after this new budget, we figure people in the future will have to go back to living the way they did 100 years ago,” Knight said.

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