Emily Plihal
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter
Rains over May 20-22 long weekend made it clear the Peace River Museum and Archive’s roof requires a total replacement, after a significant amount of water leaked into the building.
A formal inspection completed last fall detailed recommendations for immediate repairs and recommendations for replacement of two of the four roofs at the facility.
“This is one of four roofs that make up the museum building as three additions were added to the original building,” explains Mayor Elaine Manzer.
“The recent rain has highlighted the effects of the failure of the roof over this section as water has leaked into the kitchen causing damage to cabinets and other things.”
Total cost for the replacement will be roughly $120,000, an option that council chose over repatching areas to provide a temporary fix.
“If council does not do the entire repair this year and does some temporary work, that work would need to be redone when the entire project is completed,” says Manzer.
“Council did not want to spend approximately $20,000 to do the patching and then have to redo the work in coordination with the complete project was done.”
Manzer explains two of the four roofs need to be replaced at the museum located south of Riverdrive Mall.
The museum is an important attraction in town, hosting over 1,100 visitors in 2021 and more than 1,900 in 2022.
“It is an important attraction to residents, visitors and school groups who learn about the early town history, the fur trade and some Indigenous history,” Manzer explains.
“It also often has visitors doing research for their family histories, accepts some artifact donations, hosts a Fibre Arts Market, Summer Walking Tours, and various in-house and travelling exhibits as well as other research requests. The museum staff also open the NAR station during the summer for visitors and host summer events such as teas.”
Council approved use of museum reserve funds to repair the roof at its May 22 meeting.