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New project underway at Creston Museum

The storage space housing the archives collection is being updated
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Manuscripts and newspapers are overflowing in the Creston Museum archives. (Submitted)

The Creston Museum will soon be moving forward with an exciting project.

The museum’s archives collection – thousands of photographs, 114 years worth of newspapers, and many boxes of maps and documents, all relating to the people and organizations of the Creston Valley – have outgrown the available storage space, to the point where the constantly growing collection has been causing headaches for staff and volunteers trying to figure out where to put everything.

“Twenty years ago, we built a fire-proof, climate-controlled vault to house the archival collections in the best possible conditions,” said David Butt, Creston Museum board president. “Inside it, though, we have a hodge-podge of shelving systems that doesn’t meet the needs of the collection. We’re bursting at the seams.”

The museum uses the archives for all of its activities - informing new exhibits; preparing special programs for schools, seniors groups, and community events; helping people learn more about their families through public research services; creating the highly popular “On This Day” social media posts; and more.

“Photographs, documents, newspapers – people donate those every single week, dozens or even hundreds at a time, and the shelves for those materials are full,” said Tammy Bradford, Creston Museum manager.

To improve the space, a new high-density storage system will be installed in January or February 2023.

An overview of the high-density mobile shelving system to be installed.
An overview of the high-density mobile shelving system to be installed.

Stationary shelving units line the perimeter of the 18 x 28-foot space. In the middle, a block of mobile shelving units on tracks take up every inch of available space, with only enough room left free to open up one aisle to access the required shelf.

Units of varying depths and shelf-distances accommodate the standard storage boxes and containers the museum uses. With heights up to 89 inches, the new system makes maximum use of available vertical space.

“This will nearly triple our available shelving space, with absolutely no increase in our footprint or operating costs,” said Bradford. “What’s more, it gives us the space we need for the types of materials we actually have and are most likely to receive.”

This project is being funded by the generosity of Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, Columbia Basin Trust, Creston Rotary Club, and private community donors.

“We are very grateful to the people and organizations whose support makes this project possible,” said Butt. “It means the museum can continue collecting the materials that tell the story of the community and its people.”

A team of volunteers is being recruited to help unload the shelving and move the collection to an adjacent building and back again. For more information or to volunteer, contact the museum at 250-428-9262 or email tammy@crestonmuseum.ca.

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These wooden shelves are destined to be replaced. (Submitted)
These wooden shelves are destined to be replaced. (Submitted)


Kelsey Yates

About the Author: Kelsey Yates

Kelsey Yates has had a lifelong passion for newspapers and storytelling. Originally from Alberta, she graduated from SAIT Polytechnic's journalism program in 2016.
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