Port Coquitlam's history could soon have a home.
Council decided during a closed door meeting Monday that it would allow the PoCo Heritage and Cultural Society to operate a museum out of the former Ten Thousand Villages storefront on McAllister Avenue. The city building has sat vacant since the retailer did not renew its least earlier this year.
A museum, said society president Pippa Van Velzen, would allow the city to consolidate its historical artifacts, photos and memorabilia under one roof.
"It is very exciting," she told The Tri-City News. "Obviously, there are lots of logistics that have to be still be worked out."
One of the immediate issues the society would have to work out if it is to take over the facility is construction-related. The wall between the 10,000 Villages room and the archives at Leigh Square would have to be opened up to connect the two facilities, Van Velzen said. Renovations would also likely be required in order to modernize the interior of the building and make it more welcoming to guests.
"We have fundraised for this very thing," she said. "We have ideas to make heritage a little newer. This is a chance for us to put on a new face."
Once the museum is open, Van Velzen said the society would rotate the displays depending on the themes it is promoting at the time.
Currently, the society showcases its historical items at the Leigh Square archives and a building next to the community police station on Mary Hill Road.
The group has been pushing for a museum for several years. Before the Charles Lobb House on Mary Hill Road was demolished in 2009, the society asked council to move the 100-year-old structure to a city lot, where it could house historical displays.
The year before, the society had another setback when the Wild Duck Inn was knocked down to make way for the new Pitt River bridge.
But over the last three years, the organization has made some progress, Van Velzen said.
With the city, it has developed the Heritage Strategic Plan and created a heritage registry listing historically significant buildings and places in the city.
"We have done more in the last few years with heritage than I think we have ever done," she said. "I think heritage has really moved forward."
