Big Shift for a Small Museum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lori Treloar - Executive Director Shawnigan Lake Historical Society lori@shawniganlakemuseum.com 
250-743-8675

Big Shift for Small Museum

A Million Dollar Story

April 14, 2022

The Shawnigan Lake Historical Society is thrilled to announce that funding, under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) - Rural and Northern Communities (RNC) Program, has been approved for the Shawnigan Lake Museum expansion project, Project Impact, to a maximum federal/provincial contribution of up to $1,077,903.

Project Impact is a community supported capital expansion project to triple the size of the Shawnigan Lake Museum from 2100 sq. ft. to over 6000 sq. ft. The project will position the museum as the cultural hub of the community; it will grow tourism potential in the area; and it will provide space to invite the community and visitors in for events and workshops led by the storytellers of the community.

The project will result in local spending of more than $2m on construction materials and labour in the local community(ies), create many new jobs during the construction, and generate new staff positions within the museum, post-construction.

“We have been working on the expansion project for over five years”, says Executive Director Lori Treloar. “we are honoured to be a recipient, and grateful, and we are certain that this project will significantly impact our community.”

Pre-pandemic, the museum welcomed more than 4000 visitors a year, and delivered cultural programming and events for youth, families and adults in the region with a team of up to 75 volunteers who helped to deliver over 3500 hours of volunteer service each year.

The Shawnigan Lake Historical Society is a charitable organization located in the heart of Shawnigan Lake Village.  

The Society was incorporated in 1977 and opened the museum in the original Firehall in 1983. For almost 40 years, the museum has been a go-to place to connect community and visitors with the Shawnigan Lake experience, through heritage, culture and arts programming.