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Museum nominated for tourism award

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Renovations completed over the past two years that showcase more of the Lambton Heritage Museum’s  25,000-item collection, have the Grand Bend institution up for a prestigious award.

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The museum was nominated for an Innovator of the Year Award in the Innovation Awards from the Southwest Ontario Tourism Corporation.

Winners are being announced March 4 at Ontario’s Southwest Tourism Conference in Chatham-Kent.

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“It’s very exciting for us, and we’re very pleased and honoured to be selected as a finalist,” said Laurie Webb, manager of museums, gallery and archives with the County of Lambton.

About $435,000 in renovations completed before the museum’s 40th anniversary in May 2018 revamped its storage, allowing the public to view all of the items and artifacts not currently on display, which typically can be 85 to 90 per cent of the collection, Webb said.

“Technically, stuff isn’t on display and interpreted … (but) the public can at least see what we have,” she said about the collection centre that lets people peer down the storage aisles.

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“And we do little mini pop-up displays in the collection centre as well, featuring those artifacts that aren’t on display in the temporary exhibit or in the permanent display.”

The behind-the-scenes experience at the museum has been a hit, she said, noting there’s also a glass wall where people can view the curatorial area where museum staff conduct research and work on artifacts, including prepping them for display.

“People really are fascinated and astounded to discover how much we actually have in our collection,” she said.

At points throughout the year, people can also see staff working with objects in the collection centre, she said.

“People really seem to enjoy getting a peek behind the scenes and seeing what the museum does.”

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A one-kilometre heritage walking trail reinstalled in 2019 outside the museum has also helped draw interest, she said.

Snowshoes are included with museum admission if people want to trek the trail in the winter, she said, noting the trail is dotted with interpretation signs from the museum that share stories about the history of the area.

“Both of those things allow … visitors to have more engagement with the museum,” Webb said. “Traditionally during the summer is our peak time, and then during the fall and the spring this gives people the opportunity to see some more museum work taking place.

The museum maintains five historic buildings and two display buildings, along with the trail and its collection of artifacts, photographs and documents.

tkula@postmedia.com

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