Meet the Museum

SOOKE ROADL W OOD O C

METCHOSIN ROAD

ROYAL BEACH PARK

JUAN DE FUCA PUBLIC LIBRARY

By Sandra Hudson

Communications Consultant

ESQUIMALT LAGOON

A Trip to Colwood with the Royal BC Museum Learning Team

FUTURE HOME OF THE COLLECTIONS AND RESEARCH BUILDING

Meet the Museum

LANGFORD

COLWOOD

SAANICH

ESQUIMALT

VICTORIA

OAK BAY O n a sunny Saturday in late September, the Royal BC Museum Learning team, led by Chris O’Connor and Kim Gough, travelled to the future home of the museum’s Collections and Research Building (CRB): Colwood, BC, located 15 kilometres west of downtown Victoria, for an opportunity to meet members of the community and share information about the museum’s programs, collections, research and exhibitions. The new CRB will be a part of Colwood’s Royal Bay neighbourhood, surrounded by public park space and close to new schools.

Chris and Kim, along with museum volunteers, visited three locations: the Juan de Fuca branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library, Esquimalt Lagoon and Royal Bay Beach. At each location, visitors of all ages played games, asked questions and won prizes.

“We wanted to show and tell what we do at the museum—so having the chance to bring out our Learning van and pop-up tent, and lead some hands-on activities, was really fun,” says Hanna Cho, head of Learning and Community Engagement at the Royal BC Museum. “In addition, Chris and Kim got to meet our new neighbours and learn more about the Colwood community.”

The first stop of the day, at the Juan de Fuca public library, saw guests playing History Mystery, a guessing game designed to boost knowledge of BC history, as well as spinning the wheel for prizes in a fun game of

(above) Learning program developer Chris O’Connor, volunteer Patti Williams and learning program developer Kim Gough at Esquimalt Lagoon.

(left) Learning program developer Chris O’Connor enjoying a conversation with visitors.

(right) Learning program developer Kim Gough inviting visitors to take a closer look.

museum-and-archives trivia. Colwood mayor Rob Martin was on hand to chat with local residents and the museum team, saying, “Colwood is thrilled to be the future home of the Royal BC Museum’s Collections and Research Building. A beautifully designed and energy-efficient Collections and Research Building is going to be a game-changer for the city that will positively impact Colwood schools, families and children for generations.”

Next came a visit to Esquimalt Lagoon, a migratory bird sanctuary established in 1931. The sanctuary is home to a large variety of birds, including the Pacific great blue heron, a species of special concern under the federal Species at Risk Act. It’s a great spot for visitors to learn more about all kinds of birds. The Learning team offered lots of information and answered questions about the abundance of birds in the area, sharing several bird and bird-related artifacts from the museum.

The last stop of the afternoon was Royal Beach Park, not far from where a mammoth tooth was discovered at the local gravel pit in the early 1960s. The mammoth tooth is one of the artifacts in the museum’s vast collection that tells the history of Colwood, linking the museum’s collection to Colwood’s ancient seaside landscape. Visitors were excited to check out a replica mammoth tooth and an actual piece of mammoth tusk, and to learn more about the discovery in their community.

The Royal BC Museum’s collection belongs to all people in BC; this outreach event provided the Learning team with a wonderful opportunity to share parts of the collection with the Colwood community. The team is enthusiastic about getting to know their new neighbours and look forward to many more opportunities to share and explore the collection together when the CRB opens in 2025.

Colwood is thrilled to be the future home of the Royal BC Museum’s Collections and Research Building. A beautifully designed and energy efficient Collections and Research Building is going to be a game-changer for the city that will positively impact Colwood schools, families and children for generations.

—Rob Martin, Colwood mayor