HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 19, 1968
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PICKERING TOWNSHIP MUSEUM BOARD
3/68
March 19, 1968
A meeting of the Pickering Town-
ship Museum Board was held on
TUESDAYø the NINETEENTH day of
MARCH, 1968 at the Municipal
Building, at 8:00 o'clock p.m.
PRESENT: Mr. Harry T. Cook, Cha irman
Mrs.Dierdre Earle
Mr. Robert Miller
Mr. Milton Parkin
Noel C. Marshall, Secretary
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1..
Minutes
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MOVED by Mr. Parkin, seconded by Mrs. Earle that the
minutes of the meeting held on February the 13th be
approved.
CARRIED .
2. Accounts
Museum: The Oatario Historical Society
Alec Ramsay - Renovations
5. 15 J '">;
47.25
Centennial:
Alec Ramsay - Labour on Store and
Blacksmith's Shop
Ken Ramsay - Labour on Store and
Blacksmith I s Shop
86. 00'
86.00
Miss Edna Green - taxes on Blacksmith's
Shop
98.18/"
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Income: Donation - Frank Rogers
Sale of Maps - R. Miller
20.00
12.50
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The Debit Memo from tho Engineering Department covering the
invoice of Edwards & Gunn for the topographical survey of the
Museum Grounds is to be held in abeyance until such time as
the drainage work is complete and final costs known.
~-1OVED by t4r. Miller, seconded by Mr. Parkin that the accounts
as presented bé paid.
CARRIED.
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3. Correspondence
(a) Mr. Peter Oomen of radio station CHOO requests copies .of
Museum Board minutes for general interest items. The
Board directed that he receive copies of all future minutes.
(b) Mrs. Elsa Storry advises she will be happy to research and
write History dEMuseum Buildings once they are all located
on property.
(c) Mrs. Elsa Storry expresses sincere thanks for present.ation
and party in her honour.
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(d) Letter from Lawson & Clark confirming the fact that Miss.
Edna Green has completed the sale of the property on which
the blacksmith's shop is .situated and that the Museum Board
will lose ownership of this building should they not comply
with the terms of the agreement signed by the Chairman.
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(e) Letter from Lawson & Clark advising that t1iss Green paid the out-
standing taxes on the blacksmith's shop prior to selling
the property. They feel that the Museum Board should re-
imburse her for this amount. The Board agreed to re-
consider their decision of the previous meeting and directed
that the taxes on the BLACKSMITH'S SHOP ONLY be paid to
Miss Green and that this amount be included in the accounts.
(f) A letter was received from the firm of Lawson & Clark deal-
ing with a damage claim lodged against the Museum Board by
Mrs. Ruth Ingram concerning three items of Canadian Glass
that were on display in the Museum Building during the
year 1965 and 1966 and which were broken during this period.
There were strong doubts expressed by the Board as to its
liability in this matter particularly in view of the fact
that Mrs. Ingram had set the display up herself apparently
more as a commercial entry than a historical one. The
display consisted of a collection of Canadian glass in a
glass case in which were two glass shelves on which the
various iten13 were arranged. Apparently the vibrations
from the floor of the building as the various groups went
through it 1k~ caused three items to slip off the shelf
falling to the hottom of the case and breaking. Previous
to the actual breakage the former curator had on two
separate occasions moved the items on the shelves further
back when he discovered them shifting towards the front of
the case. When the breakage occured he had glued the
pieces back together and returned them to the display. The
items involved are a sugar bowl valued at $175.00 an amber
flask valued at $5.00 and a guardian angel hand lamp valued
at $45.00.
Mrs. Ingram through her Solicitor is claiming compensation
in the amount of $225.00 for the breakage.
Under the circumstances the Board agreed that it would be
difficult to clear themselves of any responsibility for
the breakage at law and directed that the Secretary advise
Mr. Lawson to request the return of the items that had been
broken and since repaired in order that we may submit them
to the Royal Ontario Museum for a proper valuation. Once
this valuation was obtained the Board would undoubtedly
have to make some offer of settlement to resolve the matter.
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4. Centennial pro;ect
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Mr. Miller reported that Mr. Russell Harrison had been
working on the two buildings on the Brock Road for the
last two days and the smaller house was now ready to be
moved.
The Secretary outlined to the Board the problem that had
developed insofar as obtaining a permit from the Depart-
ment of Highways to move these buildings at this time.
The Department refused the issuance of a permit on two
grounds namely; -
I. Half load season was now in effect until April the
30th
2. The Department would not issue a permit for moving
any building whose width ":'Þ~c(,H,;,.>ded 18 I and undor no
circumstances would issue a permit for a building
the mov,iQg of which would result in thG blQcking off
of trafr~c completely.
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This action by the Department has created a serious
problem as the majority of the buildings to be moved
to the Museum zite, including the larger of the two
structures on the Brock Roaq are all in excess of 18'
and in the instance of the building located on the
Brock Road 30 t .
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As far as moving the two building8 on the Brock Road
went the group failed to see how even the entire block-
ing of Number 7 Highway could seriously affect traffic
during the middle part of the week on such a relatively
untravelled road. The length of the move is certainly
no more than a ~ of a m~le aqd would unlikely take any
longer than 20 of 30 minutes at the most. The Secretary
indicated that in talking with the Distric Engineer his
arguments had been to no avail and the Department had
refused to alter their position.
After considerable discussion by the group it was agreed
that the Secretary contact the Local Member of Parliament
Mr. William Go Newman in an effort to see whether he
through his office might pursuade the Department of High-
ways to ease their restrictions to permit the moving of
the buildingc.
Mr. Harrison was advised of the turn of events by telephone
and the Secretary agreed to keep !ooth he and Mr. Miller
aware of developments in order that any opportunity to
circumvent the restrictions imposed might be sei~ed.
5. Mr. Cook mentioned that he had requested an itemized
account from Mr. R. Harrison indicating the cost incurred
by him to date regarding the belated moving of the build-
ing. Particularly of interest would be how much of the
original retainer of $1,000.00 was still available. The
Chairman directed that the Secretary contact Mr. Harrison
concerning this statement as it had been requested on
March the 2nd and had not been forthcoming. The balance
of the retainer should be returned to the Museum Board
and failing this action would have to be taken to recover
it from him.
6. New Business
(I) History in Action Day - The Board felt that the majority
of the work involved in the preparation of the History
In Action Day would be no greater for a two day affair
than for the usual one day. On motion of Mrs. Earle
and seconded by Mr. Parkin and carried unanimously it
was agreed that History in Action celebrations for tbe
year 1968 consist of Saturday and Sunday with the Sunday
activities starting at l:OO o'clock in the afternoon.
(2) Museum Building Proper - Mrs. Earle wondered whether it
would be possible to inst~ a portable electric heater
in the building to permit the cataloguing group to work
in the building prior to opening day. Some discussion
followed concerning the advisability of either repairing
the existing furnace or replacing it with a new one in the
future. The group agreed that in the interim the few
minor repairs necessary to put the existing furnace into
operating condition 2)e carried out and authorize Mr. Miller
to proceed with this project. He agreed to have the furnace
in operation for Sunday, April the 7th in order that the
cataloguing group might be able to work in the building..
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(3) The curator had requested another filing cabinet as the
present one is filled to capacity. Mr. Cook agreed to
investigate the possiblity of obtaining a new cabinet
at a reasonable price.
(4) Museum Entrance - The Chairman mentioned ~he fact that
he and an architect had visited the Museum Grounds
recently with a veiw towards preparing plans for a small
curator's officeø ticket booth and entrance building for
the Museum Grounds. The architect had agreed to prepare
a sketch to encompass all of the requirements of such a
building and submit both it and a rough estimate of cost
to the Board shortly.
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7.
Publicity
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Mrs. Earle inquired as to the possibility of a reciprocal
agreement with other agencies such as the Tourist Office
at the Lansing cut off or possibly the art gallery in
Oshawa whereby advertising pamphlets would be available
describing the activities of these groups. In this way
all agencies would benefit from a wider area of advertising.
She agreed to pursue this matter further.
On motion the meeting adjourned.
DATED
, 1968.
Chairman
Secretary
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ADDENDUM TO MINUTES
3/68
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Mr. William G. Newman, the local member of Parliament for
this area was contacted concerning the problems encountered
with the Department of Highways and the proposed moving of
the buildings on the Brock Road. Through his office he did
manage to get through to the Minister of Highways and the
various officers under the minister with the result that
conversations were held between the Deputy Minister of High-
ways and Mr. William Twelvetrees, the County Engineer. I
discussed the entire question with both the District Engineer
of the Department of Highways, Mr. Allan and Mr. Twelvetrees
and was inclined to agree with them that because of the rapid
disappearance of the feast in the qround that the moving of
the3e buildings should be delayed to the end of April. Mr.
Twelvetrees indicated to me that while he was originally
prepared to waive the County's half load restrictions the
continued warm weather had forced him to reconsider his
original decision and he would no longer consider waiving
the half load limit.
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Further discussions with Mr. Allen revealed the Department's
reluctance to waive the half load reatrictions. Neverthe-
less a point in our favour was made as he did suggest that
the Department would consider the iSGuance of permits for
the moving of several of the buildings that excede the 18'
width requirement provided they were given a opportunity to
review the situation in advance. He asked that the Board
3ubmit to him as soon as possible complete information con-
cerning the routes intended, the present location of the
buildings, exact measurements of the buildings involved, and
anticipated moving dates assuming that we can commence on
May the 1st.
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Noel C. Marshall.