Greater Sudbury’s museums remain closed for the third-straight year since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, but it doesn’t mean nothing has been going on.
Last month, weekend walking tours of the Anderson Farm Museum in Lively began. The museum has also partnered with the Lively library to offer programming in an effort to keep heritage arts alive through such things as cross stitch lessons.
A team of three summer students are working to post the walking tour online, alongside other work, and they’re gearing up to host the Copper Cliff museum’s 50th anniversary this autumn.
As such, city tourism and culture manager Lara Fielding explained to Sudbury.com, the municipal museums’ closure hasn’t been an all-or-nothing process.
In the background, capital work has also continued.
“During the pandemic, museums and attractions had to be closed, and with that time we were planning to do the capital work, and the pandemic has delayed materials, construction crews, etc, so we are still working through dealing with materials and project procedure,” Fielding said.
New stairs for the barn building at Anderson Farm are still under construction, after which other capital projects to the grounds’ aging buildings are anticipated to take place.
The process of digging out new stairs triggered an archaeological dig last year, when material from the historic farm were unearthed.
An architectural team is still working on a final report, which curator Sam Morel said she is waiting “in excitement” to see.
Walking tours of the Anderson Farm Museum will take place Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, and will be free of charge to anyone who shows up, with the last tour leaving at 3 p.m.
“People who walk the site all the time I’m sure have questions about when these buildings were built, and stories about the families,” Morel said.
The farm was the homestead of Frank and Gretta Anderson, Finnish immigrants who married in 1901 in Copper Cliff and had six children.
The family’s farmhouse was built in 1914, the dairy barn was constructed in 1916 for $7,000, and the grounds also include the Creighton log cabin, which was relocated from the Creighton Mine.
Alongside walking tours, music lovers are being welcomed back to the Anderson Farm Museum this summer for weekly Rock the Farm events, which were scheduled to begin on Aug. 2, and for the Anderson Farm Fall Fair, slated to take place in September.
Fielding said the city’s goal is to reopen city museums by next year.
Meanwhile, the city has also been working on a Museum Revilization Business Plan, which an advisory panel was created to address. This effort’s goal is to provide a vision for the future of Museum Services. A final plan is expected by next year.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
