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Thanks to the City of Salmon Arm’s Grants-in-Aid program, we finished the plans last month for the rest of our residential district.

The project started with a dream to create a heritage village. In 1986, the Shaw homestead moved from Minion Field, Salmon Arm’s first airstrip. The Shaw log cabin sat near the parking lot adjacent to the Haney Heritage House for a very long time. It was eventually moved in 2014 to the pasture behind the Mt. Ida Church, where the Peterson barn stood waiting.

The log structures had company. There were other unfinished projects along that route. The Pidhirney house was moved from Fraser Ave. in 2008 and the Laitinen log home moved from Broadview Rd. (30th St. NE) in 2010. All buildings were stabilized, but their interiors remained untouched. The Salmon Arm Museum board, staff, volunteers, and contractors were understandably side-tracked at the time by the Montebello Building, the Children’s Museum, and the new Sprig of Heather. Phew!

When the ribbons were finally cut on those projects, sights returned to the residences whose owners would have frequented the “new” townscape to the south of them.

Cuyler Page was asked to draw the interiors of the buildings. In the past, he assisted the organization in detailing its successful, permanent exhibits. He helped this staff member, especially, by creating functional layouts--mindful of logical artefact placement and clever maximization of space. Imagine how much this step helped!

I would have been tempted to build to scale with all the increased construction costs! And I would have driven the hired help nuts because I like to test the spaces out – like moving furniture around too many times to find the right placement. In short, consulting Cuyler saved us time and money. His drawings speak to the contractors who eventually do the installation. They also provide exact measurements!

Part of the project was also to create Statements of Significance (SoS) for the buildings. I'd heard facts about the buildings and their relocations, but there was no paper trail to guide future boards and staff. By creating the SoS documents in-house, we saved thousands of dollars. Former staff, board, and community members were consulted. Articles were retrieved from the community record – our own Salmon Arm Observer. When they were finished, the board adopted them as part of the minutes, for easy access in the future.

I cannot help but acknowledge this is exactly the work I love doing! Thank you, funders! Thank you, Salmon Arm Museum Board for trusting me! Thank you, City of Salmon Arm’s Community Heritage Commission, for considering my nomination of these buildings to the Heritage Register. Thank you, Cuyler, for making it so easy to put the finishing touches on future projects.

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Exhibit Plans:

JP Shaw Homestead
Peterson Barn
Laitinen Log Home
Pidhirney House

Statements of Significance:

JP Shaw Homestead 
Peterson Barn
Laitinen Log Home
Pidhirney House