From 1916 until the mid-1940s, Frank Anderson and his wife,
Margaretta, operated a dairy farm in what is now Lively.
When Frank died in 1944, the farm continued to be owned by the
Anderson family, but they sold it to the Town of Walden in 1977
with the idea that it would be turned into a museum.
The museum officially opened in 1985, showcasing not only the
lives of the Andersons, but the history of the entire Walden area.
In 2001, the City of Greater Sudbury took over the museum with
amalgamation.
Now, five years later, it’s time to look at the mandate of the
Anderson Farm Museum, says Marte Holouka, chair of the City of
Greater Sudbury Library and Heritage Museum Board.
The museum is undergoing a review. Holouka has assembled a group
of 16 citizens who have been involved with the museum over the
years to make recommendations about the future use of the
facility.
Holouka says they may make recommendations such as increasing
the budget for all city museums and hiring more staff.
Museums in Sudbury survive on just $150,000 a year, the same
amount of money that used to be allocated for Anderson Farm Museum
in the former Town of Walden.
The new city has also adopted Walden’s curator, Jim Fortin, to run
all of the museums in Greater Sudbury, and only hires a few people
in the summer to help him.
Fortin is expected to take care of three other museums in the
city, make “museum in a suitcase” presentations to school groups
and take care of the virtual museum website, www.sudburymuseums.ca.
“Before amalgamation, Jim looked after 10,000 people (in
Walden). That’s all the museum was. Now all of a sudden, he’s
looking after 150,000 people,” says Holouka.
“One the criticisms has been that there isn’t much going on at
the farm. Well, of course, there isn’t much going on at the farm.
I’ve got Jim doing this everywhere, trying to solve all of the
problems.”
The citizens’ advisory board might also recommend the museum be
turned into a facility like Upper Canada Village, where people can
experience life in the early 20th century.
The board might even recommend selling the valuable property to
land developers, he says, although that’s not likely because the
board members appreciate the historical value of the farm.
Once the review committee comes up with recommendations, they
will be vetted by the Walden Community Action Network, and then
submitted to the city.
The review committee’s first meeting will take place in April,
and Holouka expects the recommendations to be ready by
October.
“Heritage is in the back of everybody’s mind in this town. We all know where we came from.
It’s part of our community, and our councillors have always been
good like that.”
Holouka welcomes ideas from the public. He can be reached at [email protected].
There are three other museums in Greater Sudbury besides Anderson
Farm Museum. The facilities are usually open from May to
September.
Copper Cliff Museum, 26 Balsam St., Copper Cliff - The Copper
Cliff Museum is housed in a turn of the century log cabin that
rests on the site of the first house in the former Town of Copper
Cliff.
Flour Mill Museum, 245 St. Charles St., Sudbury - The house was
built in 1903 by its owner, Francois Varieur. The man was the
foreman for Evans Lumber, a logging mill situated on Xavier
St.
Rayside-Balfour Museum, 239 Montee Principale, Lionel E. Lalonde Centre, Azilda - This facility is currently being relocated.
