It took almost two years to happen, but with some strategic聽pestering and the right connections, the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives finally received a shipping container last week.
The container鈥攁 donation from the Canadian National Railway Company鈥攁rrived on a truck from Calgary, April 8, and with the help of the municipality, Jasper Concrete and Clark Builders, was unloaded to its new home behind the museum.
Museum Manager Karen Byers was thrilled at the container鈥檚 arrival, and April 9 she stood inside the cavernous rectangle, gushing about its cedar paneling and airtight seals.
She explained that the nearly 5,000 kilogram container will provide the museum with desperately needed storage space. For years every empty nook in the museum has been filled with surplus artifacts, exhibits and costumes. Even the loading bay and freight elevator were crammed with display cabinets and old exhibits.
The new space in the container will allow museum staff to clear out some of the clutter, regaining the use of the building鈥檚 loading bay and freight elevator in the process.
鈥淚 just can鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 finally here,鈥� Byers said, explaining that she and her staff have been waiting for nearly two years for the container to actually arrive.
The process began when Byers and Val Delill first petitioned CN for the donation. After the company agreed to donate a shipping container, months passed with no word. Byers said she didn鈥檛 want to hassle CN because the company was donating the container for free, but she was worried the museum鈥檚 request had been 鈥渓ost in the shuffle.鈥�
After more than a year of stops and starts, Byers turned to local CN鈥檈r Warren Waxer, who got on the horn and set off a chain of phone calls that made its way up to Jim Vena, the executive vice-president and chief operating officer of CN, and a former Jasper boy.
Venna took an interest in getting the museum its container, and according to Waxer, within a month of him getting involved, the container was on its way.
鈥淔inally it all came together,鈥� Waxer said.
鈥淸Venna] just took a personal interest and said he鈥檇 really go to bat for us with this whole thing,鈥� Byers said, adding that 鈥渁ll those guys really came out for us, and it was much appreciated.鈥�
The new container is in near mint condition, and replaces the legendary old silver trailer, originally donated by Fred Kaufman, that sat behind the museum for years. While Byers is thrilled to have clean, dry storage space, she talked fondly about the old beast of a trailer, which for years Kaufman used to operate a recycling program, and later the museum book sale.
鈥淚t had holes, glass broken, and there was big gaps in the doors and roof,鈥� she said with a smile. 鈥淲e swore if mice ever got in there we would have to torch it; that was it, it was just beyond disgusting.鈥�
Byers said she doesn鈥檛 imagine she will have to torch the new shipping container any time soon. Rather, the next step for museum employees is to divide the space up, install shelves and put in doors.
Trevor Nichols
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