Liza Park, Economic Development Manager for the Town of Virden, facilitated an informal Community Conversation session at Tundra Oil & Gas Place recently regarding the establishment of a Manitoba Oil Museum in Virden.
“I first heard about the Oil Museum when I started working here,” she said. “It was talked about in the Boost Report…where the “to do” list involved establishment of a heritage committee. How do you form a heritage committee without the oil industry? We knew the oil museum structure was there, but nobody really knew where it was at.”
The concept originally dates back to 1992, when a corporation, chaired by Allan Gervin, was formed. At the time, a constitution was developed, memberships were collected and funds were raised, with the intent to “create a facility for the historical preservation of artifacts pertaining to the petroleum exploration and production industry in Manitoba.”
Park credits provincial Petroleum Branch staff with keeping the organization intact, however a lack of board members and time over the years has left the project in a state of dormancy.
“My goal is to try to get this corporation going and increase its capacity in the community, and have people sit on the board and take it somewhere,” she said. “That’s what tonight’s conversation is about… seeing what interest is there and what direction I should try to drive this in the community.”
About a dozen local citizens, elected officials and stakeholders came out to find out more, and Park invited feedback and discussion in order to get ideas flowing and assess the level of interest in moving the project forward. The small group responded enthusiastically, and Park hopes to act as a facilitator as new people come to the table and ideas are fleshed out.
“I think, for a lot of us, we don’t know where to start,” said Colleen Gibson, who backed the concept. “I just think that for our community we should put ourselves back on the map and be noticed. My personal want is to see a derrick stand again. We are individuals. There’s not really anywhere else in Manitoba that has oil like this, so we might as well work with it for the betterment of our town and I think to appreciate how we got here. Without oil, and a lot of the families that came here and worked, we wouldn’t have the things we have.”
Park is doubtful that any future oil museum will be defined by a “bricks and mortar” facility. She does, however, see it fitting in to the revitalization plan being implemented by the Town.
“The bricks and mortar idea of a museum is hard,” she said. “It’s hard to build, it’s hard to staff, it costs a ton of money, so we have to think a little outside the box about how we want to tell the story of oil in our community, and where we should do that. I think it's important we think about preserving it as well as having it out there where people can see it.”
“I think that (a standing derrick) would then bring more tourism off the highway into our community,” Gibson said. “A derrick, to me, represents the oilfield. Most people understand and see that and that’s what they think of. I think there’s a sense of pride that’s been lost in our community. After Covid and being stuck in our houses for the last two years, we all need something to move forward on.”
More recently, the University of Manitoba expressed an interest in the researching of Manitoba’s historical relationship with the oil industry, and secured a grant to fund the work of compiling the data. A Winnipeg web developer has been contracted by the Town to assemble an interactive website, which Park said should be active by summer’s end. She noted that the museum has sufficient funds to see this through, and the Town will be reimbursed in due course.
During the discussion, ideas such as a “Hall of Fame” recognition banquet, the development of storyboards for placement either outdoors or in Tundra Oil & Gas Place, and the restoration of the vacant round building next to the arena complex for displays, etc. were suggested.
