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Saved and salvaged: Orillia Museum of Art and History celebrates 20th anniversary

Residents rallied in early '90s to save Sam Steele building; anniversary exhibition to open Jan. 26

Orillia has a bit of a history of wanting to do away with historic buildings. It also has a history of saving them.

It happened with Stephen Leacock’s summer home in the 1950s, when residents convinced council to buy a portion of the property from a developer who had acquired it.

It happened again with the Sir Sam Steele Memorial Building, built in 1894, on Peter Street. It might be hard for Orillians to imagine the downtown without the building, its iconic clock tower visible from various vantages, but the threat was real in the early 1990s, when the city was going to put it up for sale.

The movement to save it is what ultimately led to the creation of what is now known as the Orillia Museum of Art and History (OMAH).

“That was the start: Save the building,” said Don Ross.

Ross was the one who suggested it become an art gallery. A committee was formed and its members convinced council to put the sale on hold.

Rumours were swirling about the neighbouring Royal Bank wanting to buy it so it could offer more space for parking.

“We got in there first,” Ross said.

Then-mayor Clayt French was trying to cut back on costs, Ross recalled, noting Orillia, at the time, had the second-highest debt per capita among Ontario’s municipalities, behind only North Bay.

Council agreed to a 10-year lease, but wanted the committee to pay rent for the facility.

“Richard Oatway got us out of having to pay rent,” Ross said of his fellow committee member, who earned council support after making presentations at city hall.

The art gallery committee was formed in 1991 and held its first exhibition in December 1994. It was called Orillia Collects.

“We wanted to enable people who supported us to put the art they had on their walls into the exhibit,” Ross said.

It made sense, as the gallery didn’t yet have its own collection.

In June 1995, the gallery was officially opened when Hal Jackman, Ontario’s lieutenant governor at the time, came to town for the ceremony.

A group of people, including Ross, saw the benefit of having a building that showcased not only local art, but local history, too. So, in 1999, the gallery and the Orillia Historical Society became one, and OMAH was born.

“There were a lot of people who didn’t understand the public art gallery concept. Even some artists didn’t understand the public art gallery concept,” Ross said, noting many municipalities smaller than Orillia had public galleries, yet the Sunshine City was “really lagging behind, culturally, in that respect.”

With well-known artists such as Franklin Carmichael and Elizabeth Wyn Wood having hailed from Orillia, “there was an art heritage here that was just being ignored,” he said.

That block of Peter Street South paled in comparison to what it is today. It’s now designated the Peter Street Arts District and is bustling with creativity and galleries.

“(OMAH) has led to a tremendous measure of revitalization of Peter Street as a cultural centre,” Ross said. “That wasn’t always the case. It was falling behind in the ’90s.”

When he looks at the Sir Sam Steele Memorial Building today and remembers those days in the early ’90s, he feels “a tremendous sense of accomplishment.”

“It’s exactly what I wanted to see happen,” he said of the museum, which offers a range of activities for children and adults and hosts multiple exhibitions.

And, he’s confident about its future.

“It took a legion of people to create this institution, but it’s got a strong footing now, especially with this council, which is much more keen and smart about the cultural future of this community,” he said.

An exhibition — OMAH@20 — will mark the 20th anniversary of the merger. It will open Jan. 26 with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. and will run until March 31.

“We know 20 is a big year and we knew we needed to celebrate it,” said OMAH collections co-ordinator Hope McGilly Mitchell, who is organizing the exhibition.

She said it will “reflect on the past, celebrate the present and look to the future, because OMAH doesn’t stop at 20.”

It will include artwork, as well as photographs of building renovations and various events that have been held at OMAH over the years.

“You don’t want to do a disservice. We want to hit the right themes and tell the full story,” McGilly Mitchell said. “It’s one of those exhibits that allow people to relive the memories they’ve already made and make new ones. It’s a way to thank the community for their support over the last 20 years.”


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Nathan Taylor

About the Author: Nathan Taylor

Nathan Taylor is the desk editor for Village Media's central Ontario news desk in Simcoe County and Newmarket.
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