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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 19, 1968 "".... "'" 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 - 1.. Minutes - 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/" st ' Income: Donation - Frank Rogers Sale of Maps - R. Miller 20.00 12.50 - 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. - 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. - (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. ~ ....... -2- 3/68 (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. - 4. Centennial pro;ect - 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. ~ "'" -3- 3/68 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 . - 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.. .-.. ....... -4- 3/68 (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. - 7. Publicity - 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 - "".... "'" ADDENDUM TO MINUTES 3/68 - 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. - 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. - Noel C. Marshall.