â–ş Listen Live
â–ş Listen Live

Castlegar commits $25K to Doukhobor archives project

The City of Castlegar has approved $25,000 from its community enhancement fund for the Doukhobor Discovery Centre’s proposed archives and research centre.

Discovery centre director Ryan Dutchak says the centre would be “dedicated to collecting, sharing, and preserving artifacts that are related to the Doukhobor history in Canada and Russia. The end goal is to provide an accessible public space where people can study and learn about Doukhobor history and Canada’s multicultural heritage.”

Dutchak says although the museum has an archival collection, presently there is no space to properly store it or share it with the public. They plan to convert the unfinished basements of the museum’s two communal homes into a proper archives and storage space.

“The south building basement is tagged to be our reading room where things will be made available to the public,” he says. “It’s a big renovation project. We’ve had some architectural work done already and that’s what we’re still working on in addition to securing funding.”

Dutchak says there would also be a preservation and intake space with proper environmental controls.

They are further hoping to expand their collection by adding more textual information, including correspondence, records, interview transcripts, and other documents, as well as artifacts related to Doukhobor history.

Dutchak says the project will also make it easier to keep track of what they have and locate and retrieve it quickly. “Currently that’s not possible. It will make things much more efficient.”

Greg Nesteroff
Greg Nesteroff
Greg has been working in West Kootenay news media off and on since 1998. When he's not on the air, he's busy writing about local history. He'll soon publish a book about the man who founded the ghost town of Sandon.

Continue Reading

cjat Now playing play

ckqr Now playing play

- Advertisement -

Related Articles

- Advertisement -

Latest News

Trail Smoke Eaters deal Evan Sundar for Erik Pastro

Pastro, a forward, has played 107 games with Vernon over the past three seasons and put up 23 goals and 41 assists for 64 points.

Castlegar’s municipal payroll up 11.5 per cent in 2024

The City of Castlegar paid its employees over $6.7 million in wages and expenses in 2024, an increase of about $693,000 over 2023.

Castlegar approves disc golf course in Kinnaird Park

City council has given its blessing to a course being added through the woods at Kinnaird Park, but it remains to be seen whether it will be nine holes or 18.

Public sector workers escalate job action as strike enters third week

The B.C. General Employees Union and the Professional Employees Association are escalating job action as their members enter a third week of strikes. 

B.C. approves environmental certificate for massive LNG project on northern coast

British Columbia has given the green light to a floating liquified natural gas (LNG) export facility on B.C.’s northern coast. 
- Advertisement -