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Library offers walk back in time

A chance to learn about Prince George's almost century-long march of progress begins with a single step. Starting today, the Prince George Public Library is offering guided tours that highlight the history of downtown.
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Darcie Smith stands in the knowledge garden, the first stop of the downtown walking tour this year, which is organized through the Prince George Public Library.

A chance to learn about Prince George's almost century-long march of progress begins with a single step.

Starting today, the Prince George Public Library is offering guided tours that highlight the history of downtown. The sixteen-block tour will be held each Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Julie Creaser, the community outreach librarian, said the tour gives the community the ability to learn about the city's history at the site at which it happened.

"A lot of the historic sites aren't in their original format, so the building is either no longer there or it looks quite different," she said. "This is a real opportunity to hear about the people who lived or worked in those areas, to understand how the landscape has changed over time and to get a sense of what the community was like 40, 50, 60, 70 years ago."

The sixteen-block tour begins and ends at the library and goes as far east as Dominion Street, as far north as Third Avenue and as far west as Brunswick Street. The free tour takes about one hour to complete.

Guiding the tour is Darcie Smith, a summer student who'll highlight stories and fact about historic buildings like City Hall, the old Post Office, the old Bank of Montreal building, Northern Hardware and the Knox United Church.

"The summer students have put their own spin on the tour every year," Creaser said.

Smith said she'll talk about upcoming developments as well as the history.

"Obviously the main focus is the history, but I think it's really important to talk about the new things like the Wood Innovation and Design Centre that's being built at the site of the Prince George Hotel," she said. "Also I talk a little bit about the Canada Winter Games, because that's a real neat thing for our city to host as well."

Her tour will also stop by the Library's Knowledge Garden as well as a few pieces of art around town.

The tour was created from a project that started in 1999 called Downtown Streets, Creaser said. That project led to summer students interviewing local residents to learn the history of buildings past and present.

"We now have all those oral histories in our local history collection for people to look at," she said.

In 2006, Downtown Streets morphed into the current tours.

Smith graduated with an English degree in the spring and will be starting a master's program in library and information science.

"I thought this would be a really good position to help with my education. I've worked in a few different departments in libraries," she said. "The only thing I hadn't done is work with the public and the community and so I thought this would be a really good opportunity to gain experience for a future career."

More information can be found at the library's website at www.lib.pg.ca. Private tours can be booked at 563-9251 ext. 123.