While they have been open at their 44 Robert St. W. location since May 1, 2007, a formal grand opening was delayed until all exhibit galleries could be completed.
Hugh Henry, Director and Curator of the Swift Current Museum, said the new facility allows them to better bring the city’s rich history, both past and present, to life.
“Our focus is really on what’s happening in Southwest Saskatchewan today. The whole concept of what museums are all about has to change. It’s not just about old things and dusty things, but it’s really got to bring relevance to people’s lives today. And that’s what keeps them coming and that’s what engages them in making history. What happens today is tomorrow’s history so it’s important to talk about issues and events that are happening in Southwest Saskatchewan,” Henry said.
Swift Current’s first museum was hosted in the same building with Beatty Collegiate, and the Museum had been at their second home, the former Oddfellows Hall on Chaplin St., since 1974.
In the late 1990s the museum board began the process of looking for a new home, and one earlier study suggested they add a museum facility onto the R.C. Dahl Centre.
“The old one on Chaplin St. was not meeting the needs of a growing, progressive museum, and so we started investigating opportunities for a new facility, and that involved looking at some vacant buildings around town at that time.”
Additional momentum built towards building a stand-alone facility, and when the City and the Credit Union were involved in a property transfer a series of years ago, the fate of the museum was decided.
“This building, one of the former Credit Union buildings, then became the home for the new Museum. The building was renovated to open up the space a little bit, to allow for exhibit space, gallery space, and some other programming areas.”
