Front entrance to Museum, off Homer Watson Boulevard

On November 12, and 13th, Waterloo Region celebrated the grand opening of the new Museum with an opening ceremony and Jazz concert on Saturday and open exhibits to the community on Sunday.

The Museum, new gateway to the Doon Heritage Village, has been long in the planning. Many historical artifacts, now on display for the public to see, have been stored away in a variety of places, waiting for such a building to house them. While the main lobby,, meeting rooms and theatre have been in use for more than a year, the exhibit area opened officially this weekend.

 

 

The coloured glass panels on the outside of the building represent the stitching on a quilt, assembling many pieces to make a whole quilt. The colours were selected from quilts to be shown in the museum and the pattern shown here by the front door spell out names of the municipalities of Waterloo Region. Planners put a great deal of thought into the design, but I’ll let you learn more about that on a tour of your own.

 

“The museum is located at the intersection of two transportation routes that crossed this property in the 19th and 20th centuries,” say the words in the program.

Indeed there is a railway track running straight through the  lobby of the museum. In the photo above, you can see the steam engine in the village, and though it looks as though the train might go right on through the building, the engine sits there, quiet and still, and a pane of glass  and some distance separates it from the interior.

The track inside is under clear flooring, the  steel rails and the wooden ties. One can walk down this track without worry.

 

Floor-to-ceiling windows allow people in the lobby to see the historic village outside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this special opening weekend, a young harpist wows and relaxes us with her music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come back in a few days for Part II of my feature on the new Waterloo Region Museum. Until then, go here for more information.