Our New Home on the Water
Discover the Canadian Canoe Museum’s forward-thinking new building, which honours both land and people
The Canadian Canoe Museum is preparing to break ground and begin building its new home on the historic Trent-severn Waterway. The dynamic and sustainable new space will give prominence to the museum’s collection of 600 paddled watercraft (hundreds of which are currently tucked away in a warehouse) while continuing to preserve these national treasures in the manner they deserve — as the heart of the organization’s high-profile new headquarters. Chief Phyllis Williams, who has supported the project along with the council of Curve Lake First Nation, says this is one of the most important features of the property. “It will ensure that so many important pieces of the collection will no longer be stored away, their stories untold,” she says. “We have such a rich culture and history in Canada, and the new space gives us an opportunity to tell more of our story.” Thanks to a partnership with Parks Canada, the ccm’s new location beside the Peterborough Lift Lock National Historic Site will not only connect Canadians with culturally significant, one-of-a-kind vessels from the past, but also encourage them to get out on the water and experience the beauty and elegance of the canoe firsthand. “I’m a paddler myself, so I see many new opportunities to engage visitors,” says Carolyn Hyslop, general manager of the ccm. “We could, for example, have part of
a heritage fleet on the water, so visitors can experience what it feels like to paddle a traditional birchbark canoe.” The larger location will also feature a dedicated canoe-building studio, expanded artisan workshop spaces for snowshoe weaving, mukluk making, and more, and a green roof complete with outdoor classrooms and a year-round garden. Then, there’s the beauty of the building itself. “It challenges the conventional approach to right-angled architecture,” says Lisa Rochon, chair of the ccm’s design committee. “Instead, it honours the curves found in nature.” After a twopart international design competition, the project was awarded to Dublin-based Heneghan Peng Architects and Torontobased Kearns Mancini Architects, who together designed the building to connect cultures, communities, land, and water. The new facility is even built into the land, extending from beneath a drumlin that will naturally protect the collection inside from direct sunlight. The building then forms a serpentine glass wall, from which visitors can look out at the sky and water. Rochon is eager to see the full scope of the artifacts displayed in their new space, including one of the oldest documented birchbark canoes, and author Farley Mowat’s sailing canoe. “I’m constantly amazed by the visual impact of the watercraft collection,” she says. “Whether it’s the great dugouts of the First Nation of the Pacific Northwest, or the delicate, exquisitely crafted birchbark canoes, each piece has a story.” Among her favourites is the canoe that a father and son paddled from Canada to the Amazon. Hyslop, meanwhile, is drawn to a dugout canoe carved by Victor Adams, and Chief Williams fondly recalls the canoe that a First Nation community from Newfoundland brought to the museum as a gift, earlier this year. “That canoe is a reminder to me that, as before, here we are again, exchanging our cultures and building relationships across Canada,” she says. The ccm acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, the City of Peterborough, Peterborough County, and many leadership donors. The diversity and inclusiveness of participants — Canadians of all backgrounds — is key to the success of the project. Beginning later this year, a nationwide fundraising campaign will support the construction of the new museum. “The new museum will allow us to do so much more,” says Hyslop. “In the very best way possible we’ll share more of Canada with more of Canada.”