Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre
Encyclopedia
Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre (CMAGS) is the public name used by the Centennial Museum Society of Canmore
. 'Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre' is the name used by the Centennial Museum Society of Canmore. The Society was incorporated in 1984 under The Societies Act of the Province of Alberta
. The society is also a registered charity. Spanning more than a century since the town was first incorporated, and spanning generations, cultures and social classes, the museum had close to 120 years worth of local history to move from the original location to a new purpose built space in Canmore’s new Civic Centre Building in June, 2004.
, CHIN
, and Virtual Museum of Canada
. The Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre is a member of the Canadian Museums Association, an organization that represents nearly 2000 museums. Each year, more than 55 million visitors attend Canadian museums. In turn, these institutions employ over 10,000 full-time, around 10,000 part-time employees and are supported by more than 40,000 volunteers. In addition, it is a member of the Alberta Museums Association.
This designation is achieved by participating in the Museum Affirmation Program, a new initiative designed to strengthen the Association’s accountability toward the public funds it distributes through grants and programming to the province’s museums.
As a Recognized Museum, the Canmore Museum & Geoscience Centre has met the internationally recognized definition and standards of a museum. This status is good for 5 years (until 2012), at which point the designation will be revisited.
history to the 1988 Winter Olympics
and beyond.
Miner’s Day is an annual event held on the Saturday closest to July 13, the day the last coal mine closed in 1979 after 92 years of continuous operation. There is a parade of the miner’s families along main street followed by a town BBQ organized by Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre. After the mine closed in 1979, some expected that the town would soon follow the likes of nearby Georgetown, Anthracite and Bankhead and become a ghost town or vanish like the work in the coal mine. Instead, within a few years, Canmore was the site of the Nordic Centre for the 1988 Winter Olympics
. The resulting development through the 1990s, and beyond have led to a mountain community with year round tourism as a sought after vacation destination and a major real estate market in recreational property. History buffs have no shortage of places to visit in the town of Canmore including the 19th Century North West Mounted Police Barracks hosted by the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre. In addition, the miner’s favourite hang-out, the Canmore Hotel, the original Miner’s Union Hall is still a multi-use facility which will be the cornerstone of the new Lamphouse Theatre project.
The entrance is built to give the illusion of walking down a shaft of a blackened coal mine. It is not just a museum of coal mining history, but has a mandate to tell the stories of the heritage of the town and the people of the mountains. There are areas of the museum devoted to archaeology in displays related to Negotiating Place, there have been rotating displays of mountain culture which includes the climbing history of the Rocky Mountains from Lawrence Grassi to Sharon Wood
. There are displays of rocks and fossils from the rockies, and the Gordon Tebitt reef display makes the comparison of the Grassi Lakes
Devonian reef with a reef system which could be found in the Caribbean tropics today.
This museum is also for kids. A big screen TV in the corner allows kids and adults to learn about the geology of the rockies on short DVD programs. Many youngsters also run for the modern computers which have geology games installed. Besides that, there are summer programs for the kids, and there is the annual rock and fossil road show put on with the cooperation and support of organizations like APEGGA and the Burgess Shale Foundation. In cooperation with Burgess Shale Foundations, CMAGS has run yearly trips to the Mount Stephen trilobite beds
and to the Walcott Quarry
. Tours have also been hosted to the Columbia Icefield Visitors' Centre and to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
. The museum has also produced multi-media shows which study the changes in the community over time. Interviews were grouped into three main aspects: blessings, challenges and history were among the wide range of ideas and issues considered when looking at the positives and negatives of a growing community.
In 2008, the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre organized a traveling exhibition in celebration of the David Thompson
Bicentennials (2007–2011). The exhibit is designed to create not only an awareness of how Thompson’s efforts gave shape and definition to the northwest half of North America. The environment and aboriginal world inhabited by Thompson is also explored in the exhibition. The exhibit called ‘David Thompson: 200 Years Later’ will travel to other museums and historic sites beginning in 2009.
; with editing and layout design by Rob Alexander. This important book tells the story of coal mining in the Bow Valley, including Anthracite, Bankhead, Georgetown and Canmore.
Canmore, Alberta
Canmore is a town in Alberta, Canada, located approximately west of the City of Calgary near the southeast boundary of Banff National Park. It is located in the Bow Valley within Alberta's Rockies. The town shares a border with Kananaskis Country to the west and south and the Municipal District of...
. 'Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre' is the name used by the Centennial Museum Society of Canmore. The Society was incorporated in 1984 under The Societies Act of the Province of Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. The society is also a registered charity. Spanning more than a century since the town was first incorporated, and spanning generations, cultures and social classes, the museum had close to 120 years worth of local history to move from the original location to a new purpose built space in Canmore’s new Civic Centre Building in June, 2004.
Affiliations
The Museum is affiliated with: CMACanadian Museums Association
The Canadian Museums Association is a national organization for the promotion of museums in Canada.The Canadian Museums Association is the national organization for the advancement of the Canadian museum sector, representing Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internationally. The...
, CHIN
Canadian Heritage Information Network
The Canadian Heritage Information Network is a Canadian government-supported organization that provides a networked interface to Canada's heritage, largely through the World Wide Web. It aims to give access to Canada's heritage for both Canadians and a worldwide audience, by supporting the...
, and Virtual Museum of Canada
Virtual Museum of Canada
The Virtual Museum of Canada is Canada's national virtual museum. With a directory of over 3,000 Canadian heritage institutions and a database of over 600 virtual exhibits, the VMC brings together Canada's museums regardless of size or geographical location.The VMC includes virtual exhibits,...
. The Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre is a member of the Canadian Museums Association, an organization that represents nearly 2000 museums. Each year, more than 55 million visitors attend Canadian museums. In turn, these institutions employ over 10,000 full-time, around 10,000 part-time employees and are supported by more than 40,000 volunteers. In addition, it is a member of the Alberta Museums Association.
Recognition
The Canmore Museum & Geoscience Centre became one of the museums in the province of Alberta to receive the Recognized Museum designation from the Alberta Museums Association. To earn this designation, the museum provided a panel of museum professionals with evidence achieving internationally recognized criteria of a museum.This designation is achieved by participating in the Museum Affirmation Program, a new initiative designed to strengthen the Association’s accountability toward the public funds it distributes through grants and programming to the province’s museums.
As a Recognized Museum, the Canmore Museum & Geoscience Centre has met the internationally recognized definition and standards of a museum. This status is good for 5 years (until 2012), at which point the designation will be revisited.
Programs
Programming is an important component of the overall mandate of the organization. Each year several events are co-hosted with the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta. Events such as the annual Rock and Fossil Clinic have become an important part of science outreach activities in the Canmore area.History
The museum started from a school assignment in 1936. Teacher Edna Appleby gave the students an assignment to write a letter to a foreign country requesting a doll in ethnic dress. One of the students, Mavis Mallabone, continued to collect dolls from all over the world. This significant collection was on display at the original museum until the mid 1990’s. The museum as steward of the town’s history has a collection of artifacts from early miningMining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
history to the 1988 Winter Olympics
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
and beyond.
Miner’s Day is an annual event held on the Saturday closest to July 13, the day the last coal mine closed in 1979 after 92 years of continuous operation. There is a parade of the miner’s families along main street followed by a town BBQ organized by Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre. After the mine closed in 1979, some expected that the town would soon follow the likes of nearby Georgetown, Anthracite and Bankhead and become a ghost town or vanish like the work in the coal mine. Instead, within a few years, Canmore was the site of the Nordic Centre for the 1988 Winter Olympics
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
. The resulting development through the 1990s, and beyond have led to a mountain community with year round tourism as a sought after vacation destination and a major real estate market in recreational property. History buffs have no shortage of places to visit in the town of Canmore including the 19th Century North West Mounted Police Barracks hosted by the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre. In addition, the miner’s favourite hang-out, the Canmore Hotel, the original Miner’s Union Hall is still a multi-use facility which will be the cornerstone of the new Lamphouse Theatre project.
The entrance is built to give the illusion of walking down a shaft of a blackened coal mine. It is not just a museum of coal mining history, but has a mandate to tell the stories of the heritage of the town and the people of the mountains. There are areas of the museum devoted to archaeology in displays related to Negotiating Place, there have been rotating displays of mountain culture which includes the climbing history of the Rocky Mountains from Lawrence Grassi to Sharon Wood
Sharon Wood
Sharon Adele Wood , a Canadian mountaineer and guide, was the first North American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.She is not only a mountaineer, but also a mother and a mentor. -References:...
. There are displays of rocks and fossils from the rockies, and the Gordon Tebitt reef display makes the comparison of the Grassi Lakes
Grassi Lakes
The upper and lower Grassi Lakes lie above Canmore, beyond the Rundle Reservoir in Alberta, Canada.They are named after Lawrence Grassi , an Italian miner who emigrated to Canada in 1912. After working with the Canadian Pacific Railway for several years he worked in the Canmore coal mines...
Devonian reef with a reef system which could be found in the Caribbean tropics today.
This museum is also for kids. A big screen TV in the corner allows kids and adults to learn about the geology of the rockies on short DVD programs. Many youngsters also run for the modern computers which have geology games installed. Besides that, there are summer programs for the kids, and there is the annual rock and fossil road show put on with the cooperation and support of organizations like APEGGA and the Burgess Shale Foundation. In cooperation with Burgess Shale Foundations, CMAGS has run yearly trips to the Mount Stephen trilobite beds
Mount Stephen trilobite beds
The Mount Stephen trilobite beds are a series of fossil strata on Mount Stephen, British Columbia that contain exceptionally preserved fossil material...
and to the Walcott Quarry
Walcott Quarry
The Walcott Quarry is the most famous quarry of the Burgess Shale, bearing the Phyllopod beds. This lies at the base of the Walcott Quarry member, and three other quarries – the Raymond, UE and EZ – lie above it...
. Tours have also been hosted to the Columbia Icefield Visitors' Centre and to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
The Royal Tyrrell Museum is a popular Canadian tourist attraction and a leading centre of palaeontological research noted for its collection of more than 130,000 fossils....
. The museum has also produced multi-media shows which study the changes in the community over time. Interviews were grouped into three main aspects: blessings, challenges and history were among the wide range of ideas and issues considered when looking at the positives and negatives of a growing community.
In 2008, the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre organized a traveling exhibition in celebration of the David Thompson
David Thompson (explorer)
David Thompson was an English-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer"...
Bicentennials (2007–2011). The exhibit is designed to create not only an awareness of how Thompson’s efforts gave shape and definition to the northwest half of North America. The environment and aboriginal world inhabited by Thompson is also explored in the exhibition. The exhibit called ‘David Thompson: 200 Years Later’ will travel to other museums and historic sites beginning in 2009.
Publications
The first publication by the Canmore Museum & Geoscience Centre is ‘Survival in Paradise: A Century of Coal Mining in the Bow Valley’. The book was written by Walter J. Riva, former mine engineer and manager at the Canmore Mines Ltd. and member of the Canadian Mining Hall of FameCanadian Mining Hall of Fame
The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame aims to recognize the accomplishments of leaders in the mining industry.It was conceived by Maurice R. Brown as a way to recognize and honor the legendary mine finders and builders of this Canadian industry. The Hall was established in 1988...
; with editing and layout design by Rob Alexander. This important book tells the story of coal mining in the Bow Valley, including Anthracite, Bankhead, Georgetown and Canmore.