The history of Shawnigan Lake is taking shape in a big way.
Community members and visitors have inquired about what is happening next to the existing museum that is located in the heart of Shawnigan Lake Village. In short, the fruit of the Shawnigan Lake Historical Society's labours.
Shovels touched the dirt for the $2.1 million dollar expansion of the Shawnigan Lake Museum for the first time on June 3, 2023 at Elsie Miles Community Park. Since, crews have really dug into making this long-lived dream a reality, with the new space set to be ready for a soft opening by the end of August.
"It feels great," said historical society executive director Lori Treloar. "The dream is coming true and it's been a long time coming. We are all very excited about the end of the project and the beginning of the new space. We'll allow our donors and members in first but I can't see us opening on a regular basis until September at the earliest."
The Shawingan Lake Historical Society, which first formed in 1977, has envisioned this project from concept to completion over the past eight years — so it has been a long time in the making. Treloar said the project originally had a one-year timeline, and ideally was supposed to be ready for June of this year but they ran into a few entanglements which is to be expected with any big project. One was coming across a 70-year-old oil tank that had been buried underground and had to be properly dealt with, which included an environmental assessment. Another hiccup was that the project went through two architects before the third was the charm. The first, who had volunteered to do the work pro-bono had to take a step back due to her heavy workload and busy schedule, while the second architect had his sights set on an early retirement.
Treloar said that every one of these snags has been an expense that the non-profit society hadn't banked on as well as a different iteration of what the building would look like. Treloar said that the third architect, who is still with the project, has been a dream to work with, and other than the exception of a few subtle changes such as a different colour for the exterior and a few adjustments with the windows, it is more or less like she envisioned and the society will look at updating a few things down the road. With so many big projects currently running behind Treloar said they are over the moon that they have pretty much been able to stay on point with the crew of Cascadia West Contracting based out of Victoria.
"Watching it come out of the ground after planning it for so many years has been wonderful," said Treloar. "We were lucky enough to find a really good company to do the construction and they have been able to pretty much keep on target with our expected dates which has been great. They've done an absolute amazing job. There are a lot of people who are already really interested in seeing the new space once it's complete, plus this expansion has brought more attention to the fact that we are in the village."
There will be a lot to experience once the doors open to the new expanded museum including a new over-the-top interpretation of the Kinsol Trestle that will have the ability to be pushed against the wall when the society needs use of the space for an event. The Kinsol Trestle exhibit will be combined with a forestry exhibit, and the museum will also be dedicating a larger space to the work of renowned Canadian artist — and Shawnigan Lake's own — E.J. Hughes. One of Hughes's paintings sold in May 2023 for $1.8 million, and according to Treloar past pieces of his have sold for well over $2 million.
"We will have a recreation of his Shawingan Lake studio where he did most of his big paintings," said Treloar. "We already have a number of pieces from his original studio as well as photos and a drawing of how it was originally laid out so now we know exactly what it needs to look like right down to even some of the funny things that hung on the studio's walls. I thinks this space will be really special because his heart lived here, and he probably would have never left the area if it was not for his wife's poor health."
Hughes, several of whose pieces have gone to big art collectors across Canada, lived in Duncan until his death in 2007. Hughes is just one of many notable individuals who hailed from Shawnigan Lake. A few others include Steve Deering, who was declared the 1994 'Geek of the Year' by Internet Talk Radio, political scientist and influencer Barry F. Cooper, Canadian Olympic Rowers John Lecky and George Hungerford as well as Canadian actor Tara Spencer-Nairn, best known for her role in the TV series Corner Gas, and while Dr. Frances Kelsey was born in Cobble Hill, she would have attended school in Shawnigan Lake as her father was very much involved with the Shawnigan Lake Athletic Association at that time. Accordingly, Treloar said that the pass-though between the original building and the new addition will be a dedicated space affectionately called the Shawnigan DNA gallery, which focus all on the history and the people of Shawnigan Lake.
"We'll have lots of maps that no one ever sees and we will celebrate Shawnigan in that space," said Treloar. "I hope both community members and visitors can appreciate the depth of the history in this area. Most people have no idea how many famous people have had places here or have grown up here and then left and found fame. I hope that people embrace it as a place for the community to enjoy and become familiar with the importance of Shawnigan. If you look at the history some significant things happened here. The only time time that Sir John A. Macdonald ever came to Vancouver Island was to hammer in the last spike at the spike on the railway, plus the history of the Esquimalt Nanaimo Railway here is also huge — there really is so much to tell."
Treloar said something else she is excited about is that the museum has been working with Ross Argo, a carver and exhibit fabricator from Thetis Island who is creating two extraordinary hand-carved pieces to be put on display. One will be of a realistic Douglas fir tree, while the other will be of a nurse tree, which essentially is a larger tree that has died and fallen in the forest and protects or fosters the growth of other young trees, and plant life such as ferns and fungi.
The new and improved Shawnigan Lake Museum won't just be taking visitors on a trip through the past, the intent is for them also to be present. The expanded space will have a kitchen that will allow the society to host events with food. Treloar said they would also like to incorporate soup days as well as coffee and muffin days for seniors a couple of times a month. There will be a modest outdoor deck where members can enjoy a coffee and a nosh and will also act as a spillover from their event space — plus a community living room that will double as both a library and a game room.
"This expansion will open up so many new things," said Treloar. "We have a lot of beautiful history books which will be available for people to come and look through, and our members will have the opportunity to check them out just like a lending library. I'm also planning on getting some games, so people can come in to borrow one, and or use the community living room or outside deck as a space to play one."
Treloar said they will also be revamping parts of the existing museum and going forward she and other members are excited to relax into it, and get more people in the door.
"We will be able to do a lot more events, and I think that will be great," said Treloar. "All of our extra exhibits are going to be amazing, and I feel we are really going to attract a lot of new people. We want to be the go-to for the Kinsol Trestle which we have always promoted, and for us just to be the way-finders of the area."
Stayed tuned for a future article on the museum's grand opening.
