The Railway & Forestry Museum has chosen a familiar name to take over the helm of the sprawling industrial attraction.
Katherine Carlson has been the curator there for years, and her time in the museum's employ dates back 10 years, covering almost every department in the organization. Now Carlson has been named the executive director, replacing the retiring Ranjit Gill.
"I've seen people go into the Penny Station (the historic train station relocated from the community east of the city), for example, who come out with tears in their eyes remembering when they lived there, or a place that had a station just like that," Carlson said. "This place has an effect on people. It has had an effect on me."
Mobility improvements to the trail system around the museum's campus has been a recent priority, as well as renovations to some of the artifact buildings. Now that she is the one working with the board of directors to determine priorities, that momentum will continue, she said.
The historic maintenance shed needs a new coat of paint, the old garden shed needs a new roof, that evocative Penny Station needs major renovations to be ready for the 100th anniversary of the Penny community coming up in 2020. An exhaustive inventory must be done of all their artifacts, many of which are held in storage.
One of the most important priorities has been worked towards for years and this will carry on in earnest, that being the proposed display pavilion to put a roof over many of the most historically important train cars that are exposed to the elements at the moment.
"That pavilion is very, very important. It is a major priority," Carlson said. "These artifact rail cars need to be under cover, but the pavilion will also do so many other things for us. It will greatly improve the way the public can view the machines. It will also provide a great outdoor event space so we can provide more interaction with the community."
Forging more community partnerships is also one of the higher items on her new agenda. That includes calling on past volunteers to perhaps come back and join a revamped atmosphere for getting the facility to its next level.
"We are really going to have a busy summer and really focus on showing gratitude and appreciation to the community that has supported us so much for so long," she said, pointing out that it's the 35th anniversary of the inception of the passionate society of volunteers that opened the museum's doors in 1986.
One of the new event features on the calendar is already designed to be an annual event. Penny Days will be the long weekend celebration in August, where that town, so emblematic of the industrial history of the region, will be celebrated. There will be art and photo displays, a bluegrass concert event, a Sunday tea, and interactivity with the townsite itself where concurrent events will be going on.
There is also going to be an event in August dedicated to the popular steam-punk pop-culture movement, since their era of focus and their industrial aesthetic is so closely aligned with the steam-punk motif.
The mental wheels have been turning for Carlson for years, thinking about the Railway & Forestry Museum's potential. She was born and raised in Prince George, then went to UNBC to get a degree in anthropology with a minor in history. Her studies included an intersessional course that took them on study trips to many of the region's top historic facilities. The Railway & Forestry Museum ignited her imagination so much so that she did a research contract for the organization a year after her 2007 graduation. She has been connected in some way ever since.
"I'd bring my kids here when they were little, and I fell in love with the place," Carlson said. "I was privileged to be able to learn, piece by piece, how this facility operates, I took courses that helped me understand how a museum is run and how history is preserved, and now I really get to apply that knowledge."
The museum's summer hours are about to go into effect (May 20). It will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through to September.
