Visit the website for Doon Heritage Village.
See what the Waterloo Region Museum has to offer. Watch the video here!
Check out the 2010 Events Listing at Doon Heritage Village.
Construction Photos
(as of December 2009)
Construction of the Waterloo Region Museum is on schedule and on budget.
This is a rendering of the some of the exhibit space in the Waterloo Region Museum.
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This is the same exhibit space currently under construction. |
This is a rendering of the exhibit area surrounding the flywheel from a Galt-made steam engine. | 
The flywheel was installed July 13, 2009 before the roof of the museum was installed. The flywheel is protected while construction continues around it. |
Groundbreaking for the Waterloo Region Museum The official groundbreaking ceremony of the Waterloo Region Museum took place on Monday, Nov. 3, 2008 at Doon Heritage Crossroads. Pictured above (l-r) are Regional Councilors Carl Zehr, Jane Mitchell, Regional Chair Ken Seiling, Harold Albrecht MP Kitchener-Conestoga, and Regional Councilors Sean Strickland, Jean Haalboom, Kim Denouden and Tom Galloway.
Current architectural views of the museum building
(as of April 2009)
The main facade of the museum, with its iconic colourful wall (read more about it below). The water
retention pond is one of the building's green features - water will be collected here and reused in the
building as grey water in the toilets.
The main facade of the museum at night. The word MUSEUM will be back-lit with LED lights.
Current architectural views of the museum entrance and lobby
(as of April 2009)
At the intersection of the alignment of Huron Road and Grand Trunk Railway train tracks, that will
be carried through the building, is a glass floor to accentuate the crossroads theme of the building.
Beyond the glass curtain wall is CPR 894.
Where did the idea for the colourful facade come from?
Early in the design process for the new museum, several public meetings were held to gather public opinion about the project. Several people commented on the overall appearance of the building, expressing their concern that it lacked pizzazz. At a subsequent meeting, it was suggested by a member of the Museum Steering Committee that what the building needed was colour.
Architects from Moriyama + Teshima heard those comments and after their own design meetings, they applied blocks of colour to the main facade, reminiscent of quilts in the museum's collection. After seeing multiple colour studies for the facade and months of discussion and debate, the Museum Steering Committee settled on the colour pallette seen above. The colour blocks will be glass panels adhered to the building, with the word MUSEUM forming an integral part of the glass facade.
The colourful facade has another meaning, that is embedded in the pattern, or layout, of the colours.
On Sept. 1, 1905 Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces of the Dominion of Canada.
Image B.6661 appears courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Alberta.
Alberta’s inauguration day was celebrated in Edmonton, with Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier addressing a crowd estimated at 12,000 people. (Inauguration celebrations in Regina were delayed until Sept. 4, allowing dignitaries enough time to travel to Saskatchewan.)
At a time when Western Canada was being settled by immigrants from around the world, Laurier spoke of the importance of recognizing the heritage of these new citizens – “we do not want, that any individuals should forget the land of their origin or their ancestors. Let them look to the past, but let them also look to the future; let them look to the land of their ancestors, but let them look also to the land of their children.”
Laurier’s words will be featured on the main façade. How will this happen? The 16 colours of the glass façade have been translated into hexi-decimal computer code, allowing various combinations of glass panels to represent the 26 letters in the English alphabet. So while you won’t be able to stand back and actually read Laurier’s words (unless you are very computer literate), his speech is determining the layout of the coloured panels.
Not only were Laurier’s words appropriate in 1905, but they reflect the theme of several exhibits planned in the Waterloo Region Museum as we explore immigration to this region through time and the community’s diversity today in the 21st century.
Watch a video of the proposed layout of exhibits
Become a fan of the museum on Facebook
Be sure to continue the conversation about the development of the museum by becoming a fan on the museum's facebook page.
As demolition of four entrance buildings to Doon Heritage Crossroads was completed in October 2008, staff and volunteers gathered to remember the buildings and celebrate the upcoming construction.
Museum Fact Sheet
Message from Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages
In English
En Francais
Be sure to bookmark this page and check back regularly for updates on the progress
of the Waterloo Region Museum.
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