[BCMA] Nanaimo Museum Opens the Bastion - For Immediate Release

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

Media Release 

May 12, 2011 

For Immediate Release 

 

Bastion Opens after being closed for a year 

Thursday, May 19, 2011, at 11:30am 

 

After a long wait the Bastion is now repaired outside, renovated inside and waiting for an audience. The public are invited to join the opening celebrations with a ceremony that will take place on Thursday, 19 May, at 11.30 with a cannon firing at noon. 

The City of Nanaimo, with ultimate responsibility for the Bastion, contracted several organizations to assist with this important project: the local engineering firms of Read Jones Christoffersen (RJC), Knappet Projects, and for the actual wood conservation and repair, Macdonald Lawrence Timber Framing (MLTF) of Cobble Hill. The process of repairing the exterior, led by project manager Ian Blackwood, involved dismantling and removing the rotten timbers. With craftsmanship of the highest standard, they were able to retain 90% of the old timbers and fuse them with new. 

 

“This renovation is a tribute to the work of the City of Nanaimo, our local engineering firms and the individuals who proudly contributed to the restoration fund. All these people worked together to restore our Bastion to its former glory,” says Debbie Trueman, general manager. 

 

Nanaimo Museum, as the guardian of the Bastion, and with responsibility for the exhibits played the role of fundraiser and facilitator. We documented the restoration project through digital photography and video, which will be archived for future generations. Nanaimo Museum has completed the interpretations in the Bastion, noting its defensive function, and the other activities that took place there between 1853 and its sale by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1862. 

 

The new Bastion experience begins as soon as you enter, with visitors encountering barrels, boxes and a variety of goods that would have been sold to company workers or traded with First Nations. Visitors can learn more about the building and the activities that took place in the small community built along Front Street. On the second floor, a visitor will encounter the main function of the Bastion, which was defence. Climbing the steep stairs to the third floor, visitors will learn more about the Hudson’s Bay Company on the coast and life in the post. 

 

Each spring the Bastion will see its winter protective coat removed and in fall it will be covered again by Nanaimo city crews. 

 

 

- 30 - 

 

 

For more information, please call Debbie Trueman or Arvon Brunt at 250‐753‐1821.

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